Posted on 12/01/2025 11:06:53 AM PST by CondoleezzaProtege
On paper, Lexington County, S.C., and Placer County, Calif., have a lot in common. They’re both big, wealthy, suburban counties with white supermajorities that border on their respective state’s capital cities…But when it comes to how long their residents can count on living, the parallels fall apart.
Placer has a Scandinavia-like life expectancy of 82.3 years. In Lexington, the figure is 77.7, a little worse than China’s.
Step back and look at a map of life expectancy across the country and the geographic patterns are as dramatic as they are obvious. If you live pretty much anywhere in the contiguous U.S., you can expect to live more than 78 years, unless you’re in the Deep South or the sprawling region I call Greater Appalachia, a region that stretches from southwestern Pennsylvania to the Ozarks and the Hill Country of Texas. Those two regions — which include all or parts of 16 deep red states and a majority of the House Republican caucus — have a life expectancy of 77, more than four and a half years lower than on the blue-leaning Pacific coastal plain.
In the smaller, redder regional culture of New France (in southern Louisiana) the gap is just short of six years. So large are the regional gaps that the poorest set of counties in predominantly blue Yankee Northeast actually have higher life expectancies than the wealthiest ones in the Deep South. At a population level, a difference of five years is like the gap separating the U.S. from decidedly unwealthy Mongolia, Belarus or Libya, and six years gets you to impoverished El Salvador and Egypt.
It’s as if we are living in different countries. Because in a very real historical and political sense, we are…
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
Poor southern whites are not dramatically better at that than poor southern blacks, either.
Also, Asians live longer, and a higher population of asians in California.
Placer County, California is about 9% Asian.
In Lexington, County, SC, about 2% Asian.
If you adjusted for race the gap would be significantly less. Also, California just seems to attract fit people. I noticed this when I took our kids to Lego Land in Carlsbad. Took a walk along the beach, and 100% of the people looked healthy and fit. In the South, you have a lot of folks whose exercise consists of climbing up a tree stand.
From the misleading headline and the snippet of the article posted, you’d think that Placer County was solidly democrat. In reality it’s a red county that just happens to be in California that went for Trump by a pretty significant margin!
The author appears to start with progressive premises, assumes some are simply fact, and then uses selective supporting data to “prove” the rest.
Much like “we all know that global warming causes an (increase/decrease) in hurricanes.” Pick your trend according to the latest weather phenomena.
What is the life expectancy of a neighborhood of fudge packers?
No doubt, it’s even less than a neighborhood of democrat cannibals. /spit
There’s a word limit but yes he mentions Placer’s conservatism and Reagan Revolution influence if you click the link…It’s more complex and nuanced.
Poor southern whites are not dramatically better at that than poor southern blacks, either.
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I think when it comes to diet and exercise, you are correct. When it comes to going to the doctor, my doc friend tells me there is a huge difference. My belief is that you can eat like shit and exercise and be just fine, or you can eat very healthy and not exercise and you will likewise be fine. But poor diet and no exercise leads to Ozempic or death!
I think a more pertinent measure is mental health on either side of the political divide. There we see a yawning gap between good and bad. Our side is just happier too.
The beach people in Carlsbad are well-educated, high income people, they take care of their physical appearance and health.
The coast and especially the more expensive coast, is not representative of all of California, visit a grocery store on the coast and look at the wives, versus the wives at inland grocery stores.
More liberal claptrap to make liberals feel superior. Yay, I live a few months longer than some white country grandma who raised her kids and eats pies she made herself with lard... sacrificing my whole life for a career in mid-level corporate administration was great and I can die peacefully knowing my cats will inherit my rent-controlled apartment.
*sigh* Researchers identify emerging rural suicide ‘belt’
“Sugar, white carbs, seed oils, lack of exercise. All found in great abundance in the South.
(I’ve been in Charlotte, NC for over 30 years now.)
Next question.”
I grew up in NY suburbs I’ve lived in the south & tx
Chatting with an ER physician in TX who, recognizing my accent, said he was from Brooklyn
He leaned in and said, “there’s no food here”
Blue or not, New Yorkers, at least, eat well.
Here’s one thing:
“San Antonio consistently exhibits a significantly higher obesity rate and ranks among the most obese cities in the U.S., while New York City has one of the lowest obesity rates among major American cities“
Oh. And New Yorkers walk
Yes the automobile-centered, drive-thru everything culture is a big part of America’s healthcare woes!
Another thing I like about NY, namely NYC:
NO WALMARTS! Because there’s simply no room!
Trump didn’t win because his voters felt everything was hunky dory in their neck of the woods.
Trump won because voters want change for the better…for America to be great. Again.
Yep, lots of poor hispanics and white folks in San Antonio love their tortillas and beans. Though hispanics dominate San Antonio. Lard on top of lard.
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