The effects of concentrated hate
Every week — sometimes every day — new revelations emerge that affirm what we already know: Trump is a lazy, inept, bigot with a wounded ego where his heart should be, and a cash register for a conscience.
What matters isn’t this reality, but the fact that a rabid minority of our citizens have become inoculated against it. They live in a cultish bubble of partisan propaganda filled with protective buzz words and talking points, a hivemind fueled by rage, paranoia and shame. For decades, right-wing media demagogues have made billions of dollars exploiting their anguish.
And if anyone thinks that there haven't been consequences for listening to concentrated hate think again:
18/30 states that voted for Trump in 2016 saw an increase in suicide of 30% or more since 2000 (compared to a national average of 25%), while only 6/20 Clinton voting stated had a increase of 30% or more. Suicide rose again in 2017 and 2018 of which White Men comprised 69%.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/07/healt...cdc/index.html
https://afsp.org/suicide-statistics/
In counties with higher than average rates of opioid use, 60% of the voters voted for Trump, compared to only 39% voting for Trump in places with below average rates. Drug overdose and opioid deaths rose during the first year of Trump's presidency from 63K in Obama's final year to 69K, then a small dip from 69k to 67k in 2018, before rising to a record 70,000 in 2019.
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-...support-in-201
https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/dat...eath-2016.html
24/25 most obese states voted for Trump as did 21/22 most overweight white states.
https://www.eatthis.com/most-and-lea...merica-ranked/
https://www.kff.org/other/state-indi...2:%22asc%22%7D
While a proportionate 9/15 states with the highest prevalence of binge drinking voted for Trump, 17/19 states where binge drinkers drink the most also voted for Trump in 2016 and alcoholism is disproportionately killing more people in rural areas.
https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/data-stats.htm
https://www.washingtonpost.com/unnat...=.230e618e8827
The areas of the country that most strongly voted for Trump had the highest increases in mortality over the past 35 years and the CDC found that in 2018, Life Expectancy for Uneducated White Males (Trump's strongest demographic) dropped for the third straight year.
https://www.businessinsider.com/trum...h-rates-2018-9
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/life-ex...-a-third-year/
Every week — sometimes every day — new revelations emerge that affirm what we already know: Trump is a lazy, inept, bigot with a wounded ego where his heart should be, and a cash register for a conscience.
What matters isn’t this reality, but the fact that a rabid minority of our citizens have become inoculated against it. They live in a cultish bubble of partisan propaganda filled with protective buzz words and talking points, a hivemind fueled by rage, paranoia and shame. For decades, right-wing media demagogues have made billions of dollars exploiting their anguish.
And if anyone thinks that there haven't been consequences for listening to concentrated hate think again:
18/30 states that voted for Trump in 2016 saw an increase in suicide of 30% or more since 2000 (compared to a national average of 25%), while only 6/20 Clinton voting stated had a increase of 30% or more. Suicide rose again in 2017 and 2018 of which White Men comprised 69%.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/07/healt...cdc/index.html
https://afsp.org/suicide-statistics/
In counties with higher than average rates of opioid use, 60% of the voters voted for Trump, compared to only 39% voting for Trump in places with below average rates. Drug overdose and opioid deaths rose during the first year of Trump's presidency from 63K in Obama's final year to 69K, then a small dip from 69k to 67k in 2018, before rising to a record 70,000 in 2019.
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-...support-in-201
https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/dat...eath-2016.html
24/25 most obese states voted for Trump as did 21/22 most overweight white states.
https://www.eatthis.com/most-and-lea...merica-ranked/
https://www.kff.org/other/state-indi...2:%22asc%22%7D
While a proportionate 9/15 states with the highest prevalence of binge drinking voted for Trump, 17/19 states where binge drinkers drink the most also voted for Trump in 2016 and alcoholism is disproportionately killing more people in rural areas.
https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/data-stats.htm
https://www.washingtonpost.com/unnat...=.230e618e8827
The areas of the country that most strongly voted for Trump had the highest increases in mortality over the past 35 years and the CDC found that in 2018, Life Expectancy for Uneducated White Males (Trump's strongest demographic) dropped for the third straight year.
https://www.businessinsider.com/trum...h-rates-2018-9
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/life-ex...-a-third-year/
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