5 ms·

Noam Chomsky: Life Expectancy in the US Is Declining for a Reason

74 points by tomerbd 7y ago

tgragnato 7y ago
> Half the population has negative net worth, meaning debts outweigh assets. There has been stagnation pretty much for the workforce over the whole neoliberal period. That’s the group that we’re talking about. Naturally, this leads to anger, resentment, desperation. Similar things are happening in Europe under the austerity programs. That’s the background for what’s misleadingly called “populism.” The way Chomsky thinks (and expresses himself) is always fascinating. The linguistic background is as evident as his political activism, perhaps a tad uncomfortable for conformists.
- yostrovs 7y ago
  It would be nice for him to stick to topics he's an expert in. Though considering he's a "word" guy, he does know how to manipulate language to achieve his goals.
  - avmich 7y ago
    I'd assume that for long time he's an expert in much more than linguistics. Even his colleagues from computer world still assume he's only a linguist, but a man can learn.
  - tracer4201 7y ago
    When you say he should stick to topics he is an expert in, do you have issue with something specific he’s saying or is it that this information conflicts with your personal beliefs or politics?
  - tangue 7y ago
    > "It would be nice for him to stick to topics he's an expert in" Well if everybody sticks to his/her own expertise that would mean the end of HN ... And I'm not even talking about twitter.
  - chacha2 7y ago
    He´s the leading expert at this.
- everdrive 7y ago
  > perhaps a tad uncomfortable for conformists I hope you're not implying that conformists being uncomfortable with an argument somehow lends a weight to the validity of the argument.
  - tgragnato 7y ago
    No. Part of the work of a linguist is to try understand why people use one term rather than another, often this happens because a word is associated with a particular idea rather than another: a different speech may imply a different acceptation or a different nuance. These linguistic differences are obviously related to the set of beliefs, social habits, routines of the individual or set of people in analysis. I simply believe that it can be extremely unnerving to be criticised by a linguist like Chomsky, who in this step uses his skills to highlight the imbalances and logical internal inconsistencies (the wrongful usage of the word "populism") of the neoliberal political thought to favour his worldview (political activism). It's a critical point of view that's difficult to find in other figures, and one of the reasons why I follow his ideas, because whether you agree or not he offers another perspective.
mgamache 7y ago
Liberals have embraced capitalism leading to stagnation? I prefer Eric Weinstein's formulation of the root cause. There has been limited technological growth in almost all tech fields (except semi-conductors) from 1970 through present day. Physics, chemistry and biology for example are not producing new technology that fuels growth. The explosive growth in semi-conductors and computers have obscured this reality. We have greater knowledge in all those fields today, but it's not translating to the rate of tangible progress that was seen in previous years (like 1920-1970).
- mikojan 7y ago
  I think you don't actually disagree with Chomsky. This is what you'd expect (1) shifting resources from the public sector to the private sector and (2) financializing the economy because a corporation is by design oriented towards short-term profits and highly trained workers such as mathematicians and physicists are being tied up in finance.
  - mcv 7y ago
    The smartest people today are working on optimizing the number of ad clicks for Facebook and Google, or on optimizing profits on stock market manipulations for Goldman Sachs and the like. A lot of talent is used not to create new value for society, but to optimize profits for rich people.
    - closeparen 7y ago
      Why are business paying Google and Facebook for those ads?
  - wolfgke 7y ago
    > and highly trained workers such as mathematicians and physicists are being tied up in finance. The problem in my observation (in Germany) rather is: I know quite some excellent mathematicians and physicists who would love to work somewhere else (even for less money etc.), but the only place where they found jobs was in finance. Quite some great mathematicians and physicists that I know have/had lots of trouble finding jobs because they are/were rejected because they are "overqualified", "too specialized", "too academic" etc. Specifically the finance domain seems to be somewhat more open towards highly-intelligent applicants.
dev_north_east 7y ago
The shocking obesity epidemic?
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
achenatx 7y ago
Interesting that the article barely covers the reason for the decline of life expectancy. Instead he goes on a very long tangent about the second amendment. Murder rates are continuing to decrease, so the murder rate has nothing to do with the decrease in life expectancy. It could be as simple as overprescription of them and aggressive marketing and sales by manufacturers. This article goes into the actual statistics which are impacting the life expectancy. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/us-life-expectancy-declines-again-a-dismal-trend-not-seen-since-world-war-i/2018/11/28/ae58bc8c-f28c-11e8-bc79-68604ed88993_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.e7200cf4a8ec https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/us-li... Chomsky asserts (without evidence) that opioid abuse is a disease of despair and that it is a result of unemployment and the wealth gap. He doesnt provide any data or citations demonstrating this link. It seems that it is more likely that opioids became over prescribed as a result of aggressive marketing and sales by pharmaceutical manufacturers. Ironically the factor protecting nonwhite communities from opioid addiction is the lack of health insurance to meet with doctors that can prescribe them. This paper supports prescription as the possible underlying cause. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2723625 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullar... <<Conclusions and Relevance The race/ethnicity and income pattern of opioid overdoses mirrored prescription rates, suggesting that differential exposure to opioids via the health care system may have induced the large, observed racial/ethnic gradient in the opioid epidemic. Across drug categories, controlled medications were much more likely to be prescribed to individuals living in majority-white areas. These discrepancies may have shielded nonwhite communities from the brunt of the prescription opioid epidemic but also represent disparities in treatment and access to all medications.>>
- Accipitriform 7y ago
  I guess Chomsky didn't point out the fact that opioid deaths fell last year for the first time in around 30 years. That actually dovetails with the idea that increased opportunity, low unemployment and improved wages helps.
musicale 7y ago
I doubt Chomsky is the entire reason.

74 points by tomerbd 7y ago

> Half the population has negative net worth, meaning debts outweigh assets. There has been stagnation pretty much for the workforce over the whole neoliberal period. That’s the group that we’re talking about. Naturally, this leads to anger, resentment, desperation. Similar things are happening in Europe under the austerity programs. That’s the background for what’s misleadingly called “populism.” The way Chomsky thinks (and expresses himself) is always fascinating. The linguistic background is as evident as his political activism, perhaps a tad uncomfortable for conformists.

yostrovs 7y ago
It would be nice for him to stick to topics he's an expert in. Though considering he's a "word" guy, he does know how to manipulate language to achieve his goals.
- avmich 7y ago
  I'd assume that for long time he's an expert in much more than linguistics. Even his colleagues from computer world still assume he's only a linguist, but a man can learn.
- tracer4201 7y ago
  When you say he should stick to topics he is an expert in, do you have issue with something specific he’s saying or is it that this information conflicts with your personal beliefs or politics?
- tangue 7y ago
  > "It would be nice for him to stick to topics he's an expert in" Well if everybody sticks to his/her own expertise that would mean the end of HN ... And I'm not even talking about twitter.
- chacha2 7y ago
  He´s the leading expert at this.
everdrive 7y ago
> perhaps a tad uncomfortable for conformists I hope you're not implying that conformists being uncomfortable with an argument somehow lends a weight to the validity of the argument.
- tgragnato 7y ago
  No. Part of the work of a linguist is to try understand why people use one term rather than another, often this happens because a word is associated with a particular idea rather than another: a different speech may imply a different acceptation or a different nuance. These linguistic differences are obviously related to the set of beliefs, social habits, routines of the individual or set of people in analysis. I simply believe that it can be extremely unnerving to be criticised by a linguist like Chomsky, who in this step uses his skills to highlight the imbalances and logical internal inconsistencies (the wrongful usage of the word "populism") of the neoliberal political thought to favour his worldview (political activism). It's a critical point of view that's difficult to find in other figures, and one of the reasons why I follow his ideas, because whether you agree or not he offers another perspective.

mgamache 7y ago

Liberals have embraced capitalism leading to stagnation? I prefer Eric Weinstein's formulation of the root cause. There has been limited technological growth in almost all tech fields (except semi-conductors) from 1970 through present day. Physics, chemistry and biology for example are not producing new technology that fuels growth. The explosive growth in semi-conductors and computers have obscured this reality. We have greater knowledge in all those fields today, but it's not translating to the rate of tangible progress that was seen in previous years (like 1920-1970).

mikojan 7y ago
I think you don't actually disagree with Chomsky. This is what you'd expect (1) shifting resources from the public sector to the private sector and (2) financializing the economy because a corporation is by design oriented towards short-term profits and highly trained workers such as mathematicians and physicists are being tied up in finance.
- mcv 7y ago
  The smartest people today are working on optimizing the number of ad clicks for Facebook and Google, or on optimizing profits on stock market manipulations for Goldman Sachs and the like. A lot of talent is used not to create new value for society, but to optimize profits for rich people.
  - closeparen 7y ago
    Why are business paying Google and Facebook for those ads?
- wolfgke 7y ago
  > and highly trained workers such as mathematicians and physicists are being tied up in finance. The problem in my observation (in Germany) rather is: I know quite some excellent mathematicians and physicists who would love to work somewhere else (even for less money etc.), but the only place where they found jobs was in finance. Quite some great mathematicians and physicists that I know have/had lots of trouble finding jobs because they are/were rejected because they are "overqualified", "too specialized", "too academic" etc. Specifically the finance domain seems to be somewhat more open towards highly-intelligent applicants.

dev_north_east 7y ago

The shocking obesity epidemic?

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

achenatx 7y ago

Interesting that the article barely covers the reason for the decline of life expectancy. Instead he goes on a very long tangent about the second amendment. Murder rates are continuing to decrease, so the murder rate has nothing to do with the decrease in life expectancy. It could be as simple as overprescription of them and aggressive marketing and sales by manufacturers. This article goes into the actual statistics which are impacting the life expectancy. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/us-life-expectancy-declines-again-a-dismal-trend-not-seen-since-world-war-i/2018/11/28/ae58bc8c-f28c-11e8-bc79-68604ed88993_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.e7200cf4a8ec https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/us-li... Chomsky asserts (without evidence) that opioid abuse is a disease of despair and that it is a result of unemployment and the wealth gap. He doesnt provide any data or citations demonstrating this link. It seems that it is more likely that opioids became over prescribed as a result of aggressive marketing and sales by pharmaceutical manufacturers. Ironically the factor protecting nonwhite communities from opioid addiction is the lack of health insurance to meet with doctors that can prescribe them. This paper supports prescription as the possible underlying cause. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2723625 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullar... <<Conclusions and Relevance The race/ethnicity and income pattern of opioid overdoses mirrored prescription rates, suggesting that differential exposure to opioids via the health care system may have induced the large, observed racial/ethnic gradient in the opioid epidemic. Across drug categories, controlled medications were much more likely to be prescribed to individuals living in majority-white areas. These discrepancies may have shielded nonwhite communities from the brunt of the prescription opioid epidemic but also represent disparities in treatment and access to all medications.>>

Accipitriform 7y ago
I guess Chomsky didn't point out the fact that opioid deaths fell last year for the first time in around 30 years. That actually dovetails with the idea that increased opportunity, low unemployment and improved wages helps.

musicale 7y ago

I doubt Chomsky is the entire reason.