[Gay State Conservative]

Disease ? Of course there was less treatment back then, and people died from things easily. But if 10% of the population carried simple disease, today it’s about 80% (and feels like 100% in the winter) that carry diseases that are treatable. And still about the same percentage carrying untreatable disease.

My great Grandparents (father's side) had 8 kids.Two lived to see their 20th birthday...my Grandfather (who died at age 53,having battled TB his whole life) and another son who died at age 22.

All four of my Dad's kids are at least 60 and are in good health.

[Celerity]

Via anecdote, the scenario always appears to hit home. To be more visceral.

But the statistics are a different story. Everyone suffered great losses in family. From sickness and from injury (An amish guy out near me recently lost a baby because he backed over him with the tractor, for instance. That sounds horrible, but over the past 6 months 3 kids also died in drunk driving accidents while strapped into their safety seats.)