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    SqarrRachel Vorona Cote
    11/02/15 11:31pm

    We can hope that more research will result in the means to combat this unfortunate trend.

    Reverse Citizens United for a fucking start.

    Improve education.

    Improve healthcare.

    End the prison pipeline system.

    End privatized law enforcement altogether.

    Strip corporations of personhood.

    Increase taxes on the rich.

    Improve social services.

    Scale back security theater.

    Outlaw opinion-as-news fuckery.

    It’s not fucking complicated.

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      Slay.douché - (dreams to be a puppy)Sqarr
      11/02/15 11:42pm

      “with no more than a high school education increased by 134 deaths per 100,000 people from 1999 to 2014.

      It’s not surprising, yet still kind of surreal. Education matters.

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      SqarrSlay.douché - (dreams to be a puppy)
      11/02/15 11:45pm

      We wouldn’t be having so much trouble with ignorant fucks thinking those fake Planned Parenthood videos are somehow real if education weren’t so severely gimped.

      Among so many other things.

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    Fire In The HoleRachel Vorona Cote
    11/02/15 11:22pm

    Just turned 45. Is my advanced degree going to save me?!?

    Fuck, it’s in English Literature. I’m doomed.

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      VonQuesoFire In The Hole
      11/02/15 11:30pm

      Starred because this fellow English major is laughing.

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      SqarrVonQueso
      11/02/15 11:49pm

      That’s cold.

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    The Cranberry Cap'nRachel Vorona Cote
    11/02/15 11:26pm

    So basically white *poor* Americans, which is hardly surprising. Impoverished people are consistently a class of Americans who get left behind on medical and mental health care, including whites.

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      Cocopop!The Cranberry Cap'n
      11/02/15 11:36pm

      So maybe the death rate among this group is increasing because the middle class is shrinking? Makes sense.

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      The Cranberry Cap'nCocopop!
      11/02/15 11:41pm

      Could be. Combine that with an overreliance on prescription drugs for pain management, possibly a higher risk of chronic pain from physical labor/blue collar jobs, limited access to more advanced medicine and management practices, and a damaged economy, and it sounds like a recipe for public health disaster to me for any group fitting that bill. I know that the Rx drugs have been in the news a lot lately because of their link to the rise in heroin use and other addictions. A lot of people got their start from prescribed drugs given to them by their doctors post surgery or for other pain management.

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    Snacktastic Part II: the Snack AwakensRachel Vorona Cote
    11/02/15 11:23pm

    I wonder if there is a difference in states that have the medicaid expansion versus those that don’t.

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      Snacktastic Part II: the Snack AwakensSnacktastic Part II: the Snack Awakens
      11/02/15 11:28pm

      ETA: That would definitely not only differentiate between those who might receive mental health services, for example but also those who might live in states that would at least espouse values about taking care of people who are economically vulnerable vs those who are in places where they might be ashamed to admit their economic struggles.

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      VonQuesoSnacktastic Part II: the Snack Awakens
      11/02/15 11:29pm

      An excellent question.

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    LILLADYLIZRachel Vorona Cote
    11/02/15 11:27pm

    My dads side of the family has a “curse” and that all men in his family die before they're 50. Usually because of stuff like this. They all DID die before 50 until now. My dads brothers are both over 50 I believe but my dads still got 2 years to go. AH! Thank god he's the healthiest man I know

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      LILLADYLIZLILLADYLIZ
      11/02/15 11:39pm

      And being healthy really doenst have much to do with it I don’t think because both of his brothers are not pictures of health. My grandfather died at...42? 43? Of liver cancer that ended up spreading. He probably would have been alive today but the medical technology wasn’t there at the time.

      He had a good sense of humor about it at least. He had gotten an x Ray or a catscan or something that showed the bad news and everyone was at the hospital and my grandpa kept holding the x Ray to the light and then laughing then holding it back up and laughing some more. My dad asked what he was laughing at and he said “look how big my dick looks”

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      #notallmen morghulisLILLADYLIZ
      11/02/15 11:48pm

      My dad’s side of the family has a similar thing. Nothing like “everyone dies before 50,” but a disproportionate amount of health crises and tragic accidents. (Grandpa died of a heart attack at 47, Grandma was killed at 59, 3 of the 7 kids have had kidney transplants, 2 of those 3 have a genetic disorder that makes it impossible to live on their own, etc). My aunt decided it’s because great-great Granny had a gambling problem and I think there was maybe a curse involved but pretty sure that’s bullshit.

      Anyway, most of my dad’s siblings are over 50 by now and in decent health. Also, my dad’s outlived his dad by 13 years so far and also looks WAY younger than the last photo we have of Grandpa. Because having 7 kids by age 34 ages you FAST.

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    LaComtesseRachel Vorona Cote
    11/02/15 11:26pm

    I blame the rising popularity of George R.R. Martin. When large numbers of white people start dying, he's probably to blame.

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      ZabellaLaComtesse
      11/02/15 11:27pm

      And if the dead come back, still on George R.R. Martin.

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    TarasoleilRachel Vorona Cote
    11/02/15 11:59pm

    Us between the ages of 45 and 54 are a pretty sad bunch right now. There was such promise and ... pffft. Nothing.

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      WhiskeyprayerTarasoleil
      11/03/15 12:09am

      T

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      WhiskeyprayerTarasoleil
      11/03/15 12:10am

      To be fair, they did warn us in the 90’s that we were going to be the first generation who did not do as well as our parents.

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    Selfie-consciousRachel Vorona Cote
    11/03/15 12:13am

    I’m forty five. Have owned my own business for 15 years. Some days don’t know how I will make it until next month. Keep going. Not destitute but not wealthy either. Have no close family. Few friends. Recently came out of long term relationship. Drink too much to self medicate. Thought seriously about ‘what is the point’.

    Tonight I was at dinner with a client who is a successful doctor and he said “So do you see a light at the end of the tunnel?” I didn’t know how to respond because I don’t let anyone know the struggles (at least I don’t think I do) but damn if he didn’t nail it. Spin those wheels.

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      LILLADYLIZSelfie-conscious
      11/03/15 12:17am

      Good luck to you and if you are seriously thinking about ending your life or having these depressive and suicidal thoughts please please get help.

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      Selfie-consciousLILLADYLIZ
      11/03/15 12:28am

      Thanks sweetie. No. Maybe my post sounded darker than it actually is. I was just trying to comment on how life as a middle aged woman and how it relates to the article, can be somewhat depressing which leads to the thought of ‘what now?’ thoughts. I’m waiting for my life of debauchery to end me ;) So much more fun.

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    goddessoftransitoryRachel Vorona Cote
    11/03/15 1:28am

    It doesn’t seem mysterious to me. You’re aging, you have scant emotional resources, you know damn good and well you don’t have enough money to afford old age, your kids are out of the house (if you have any), and the idea of ‘retraining’ for a job in your mid fifties isn’t even being touted as a pipe dream anymore.

    The only time you don’t feel bad is when you’re putting away a bottle of wine, six beers, and/or a few Vicodin left over from the knee surgery that your cheap crappy insurance barely covered half of and left you in constant pain. And if you don’t wake up, so what?

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      LILLADYLIZgoddessoftransitory
      11/03/15 2:02am

      This is so sad and so sadly true

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      PaintedTrollopgoddessoftransitory
      11/03/15 7:39am

      Fuckin’ A.

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    Touch ConnorsRachel Vorona Cote
    11/02/15 11:37pm

    A lifetime of work and living paycheck to paycheck and now theyre looking forward to another 20-30 years of the same with even less job security. At that point, its easy to see why people would fear life.

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      TarasoleilTouch Connors
      11/03/15 12:23am

      nailed it

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