5 ms·

The Unraveling of America

16 points by amiga_500 6y ago

PaulHoule 6y ago
That obesity crisis is global. Obese kids are a big problem in China, but also everywhere else.
- amiga_500 6y ago
  that's your takeaway from this sprawling article? Try again.
  - mondoshawan 6y ago
    Please be kind and add something to the discussion or don't comment at all: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
treis 6y ago
This article is placing way too much weight on Covid changing the world. It will accelerate some trends, sure, but it's not a seminal change. 100k or 200 or 300 sounds like a lot of people but when a normal year sees 3 million dead it's barely a blip. Especially since many of those dying were likely to die within a couple of years anyway. The US has not done worse compared to the rest of the west. Our deaths per capita are in line with France, Italy, Spain, and the UK. Germany is the only outlier. This sentiment is entirely because of the dislkke of Trump. I don't like him either and think he sucks, but he's not ruining the country. The US will survive him and continue to be the strongest nation in the world.
- jhart99 6y ago
  If no more deaths were to occur after today, COVID would still be the 4th leading cause of death for this year after heart disease, cancer, and accidents. It isn't a blip. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm
  - treis 6y ago
    Where it falls on the cause of death list doesn't really mean much. 3/4s of all deaths are caused by Cancer, Heart Disease, and Other. The remaining quarter of deaths are spread out over 8 causes in roughly equivalent numbers. Covid being high on that list ultimately doesn't mean much. The better number to look at is percent increase in deaths. Worst case scenario we're looking at a 3-10% increase for a single year. Obviously not good, but that's amount of increase is not going to change the course of society.
    - AlexandrB 6y ago
      > Obviously not good, but that's amount of increase is not going to change the course of society. Are you old enough to remember Sept. 11, 2001? That changed a lot after far fewer deaths! Moreover, there's not much US political leadership can do[1] about deaths from Cancer, Heart Disease, etc. COVID 19, on the other hand... [1] I mean besides something like Medicare for All. But let's ignore that for the moment since it's harder to draw a straight line from those policy decisions to deaths.
      - treis 6y ago
        >Are you old enough to remember Sept. 11, 2001? That changed a lot after far fewer deaths It did and it didn't. It started a couple wars and dominated public discourse until Obama was elected. But did it fundamentally change our society? I'd say no. It was a defining event in the lives of a lot of people. There was a temporary change in patriotism and concern about security. But today that effect is pretty much gone and as a society we're essentially the same as we would have been without 9/11. In 20 years Covid will be the same. For those that lost a loved one or lost their career it will be a defining event. But for society? It won't really matter.
RickJWagner 6y ago
Good grief, what a whiner. We're half a year into covid, I personally know a handful of people who have had it and they are all recovered. Business is mostly moving forward, the stock market is fine, and there is no shortage of food, medicine, toilet paper, etc. Vaccines are on the way. Every day brings us closer. This is not a nation toppler.
- 9999px 6y ago
  Most of my family are now jobless. Many of them now can't afford necessary medication due to that fact. My state's pandemic unemployment insurance site launched in May with gross security issues and had to be shut down. Thousands of workers and freelancers have yet to receive their first check. My sister-in-law and her husband both came down with COVID and lost their jobs. They have three kids and now my partner and I are helping them financially (which we really can't afford to do). There isn't a food shortage because corporations are forcing migrant laborers into the warehouses to work, and they're being infected and dying in higher proportions. Martyrs for the meat industry (Tyson's profits were up 600% Q1). There are human costs to "stock market is fine." I personally am down thousands of dollars helping my friends/family/neighbors with their groceries and rents. My "rainy day fund" has long been drained and my one nest-egg land asset is probably a few months away from having to be sold to continue supporting my loved ones. The state is on track to open schools in a couple of weeks. A recent study shows that closing schools can reduce the mortality rate per month by 58%; this research is being ignored in the name of profits. Business leaders and their cronies in the state are pushing for this to get parents out of the home and into work. My more-rural family members flat-out refuse to wear masks and have already proclaimed that they will not take the vaccine should one become available. You may be right that this isn't a "nation toppler," but nations are far more resilient than people. I'm happy for you that this isn't affecting you. Consider yourself lucky.
  - RickJWagner 6y ago
    Wow, that is amazing. I'm sorry you've been hit so hard by this. I really have painted an accurate picture-- in my part of the world, things are not changed that much. I hope things get better for your area soon.

16 points by amiga_500 6y ago

PaulHoule 6y ago

That obesity crisis is global. Obese kids are a big problem in China, but also everywhere else.

amiga_500 6y ago
that's your takeaway from this sprawling article? Try again.
- mondoshawan 6y ago
  Please be kind and add something to the discussion or don't comment at all: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]

treis 6y ago

This article is placing way too much weight on Covid changing the world. It will accelerate some trends, sure, but it's not a seminal change. 100k or 200 or 300 sounds like a lot of people but when a normal year sees 3 million dead it's barely a blip. Especially since many of those dying were likely to die within a couple of years anyway. The US has not done worse compared to the rest of the west. Our deaths per capita are in line with France, Italy, Spain, and the UK. Germany is the only outlier. This sentiment is entirely because of the dislkke of Trump. I don't like him either and think he sucks, but he's not ruining the country. The US will survive him and continue to be the strongest nation in the world.

jhart99 6y ago
If no more deaths were to occur after today, COVID would still be the 4th leading cause of death for this year after heart disease, cancer, and accidents. It isn't a blip. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm
- treis 6y ago
  Where it falls on the cause of death list doesn't really mean much. 3/4s of all deaths are caused by Cancer, Heart Disease, and Other. The remaining quarter of deaths are spread out over 8 causes in roughly equivalent numbers. Covid being high on that list ultimately doesn't mean much. The better number to look at is percent increase in deaths. Worst case scenario we're looking at a 3-10% increase for a single year. Obviously not good, but that's amount of increase is not going to change the course of society.
  - AlexandrB 6y ago
    > Obviously not good, but that's amount of increase is not going to change the course of society. Are you old enough to remember Sept. 11, 2001? That changed a lot after far fewer deaths! Moreover, there's not much US political leadership can do[1] about deaths from Cancer, Heart Disease, etc. COVID 19, on the other hand... [1] I mean besides something like Medicare for All. But let's ignore that for the moment since it's harder to draw a straight line from those policy decisions to deaths.
    - treis 6y ago
      >Are you old enough to remember Sept. 11, 2001? That changed a lot after far fewer deaths It did and it didn't. It started a couple wars and dominated public discourse until Obama was elected. But did it fundamentally change our society? I'd say no. It was a defining event in the lives of a lot of people. There was a temporary change in patriotism and concern about security. But today that effect is pretty much gone and as a society we're essentially the same as we would have been without 9/11. In 20 years Covid will be the same. For those that lost a loved one or lost their career it will be a defining event. But for society? It won't really matter.

RickJWagner 6y ago

Good grief, what a whiner. We're half a year into covid, I personally know a handful of people who have had it and they are all recovered. Business is mostly moving forward, the stock market is fine, and there is no shortage of food, medicine, toilet paper, etc. Vaccines are on the way. Every day brings us closer. This is not a nation toppler.

9999px 6y ago
Most of my family are now jobless. Many of them now can't afford necessary medication due to that fact. My state's pandemic unemployment insurance site launched in May with gross security issues and had to be shut down. Thousands of workers and freelancers have yet to receive their first check. My sister-in-law and her husband both came down with COVID and lost their jobs. They have three kids and now my partner and I are helping them financially (which we really can't afford to do). There isn't a food shortage because corporations are forcing migrant laborers into the warehouses to work, and they're being infected and dying in higher proportions. Martyrs for the meat industry (Tyson's profits were up 600% Q1). There are human costs to "stock market is fine." I personally am down thousands of dollars helping my friends/family/neighbors with their groceries and rents. My "rainy day fund" has long been drained and my one nest-egg land asset is probably a few months away from having to be sold to continue supporting my loved ones. The state is on track to open schools in a couple of weeks. A recent study shows that closing schools can reduce the mortality rate per month by 58%; this research is being ignored in the name of profits. Business leaders and their cronies in the state are pushing for this to get parents out of the home and into work. My more-rural family members flat-out refuse to wear masks and have already proclaimed that they will not take the vaccine should one become available. You may be right that this isn't a "nation toppler," but nations are far more resilient than people. I'm happy for you that this isn't affecting you. Consider yourself lucky.
- RickJWagner 6y ago
  Wow, that is amazing. I'm sorry you've been hit so hard by this. I really have painted an accurate picture-- in my part of the world, things are not changed that much. I hope things get better for your area soon.