Premature death could help explain why Donald Trump is president, suggests study

[Judi Lynn]

Places with large numbers of deaths from drugs, alcohol and suicide were far more likely to be convinced to vote for the Republican candidate in the US election

Andrew Griffin
@_andrew_griffin
1 minute ago

Premature death could help explain why Donald Trump is president, according to a major new study.

The research suggests that concerns about health and the prospect of an early death could have motivated people to vote for the Republican candidate in the 2016 election.

Comparing mortality rates with voting patterns shows that places where people tend to die young were also more likely to be convinced by Mr Trump, the paper shows.

And it found that the biggest gains for the Republicans came in places linked with death from drugs, alcohol, and suicide.

More:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/trump-death-premature-health-crisis-life-expectancy-voting-us-election-a8523021.html

[femmedem]

1. I don't think we needed a study to know Trump voters make bad decisions and have mental illness.

But more seriously, I wonder if it has something to do with willingness to take risks? I can see how if you aren't risk adverse, you might think, "What I'm doing isn't working. I think I'll try meth and vote Trump instead."

Or a nearly extinguished sense of hope. Decades ago, I briefly lived with a man who had deep financial troubles. We were working out a budget, and the only part of the budget he was emphatic about was that he was going to spend five dollars a week on lottery tickets. He knew it was a bad risk, but he also saw it as his only way out of his troubles. Maybe some Trump voters thought of a Trump presidency as a hail Mary pass.


Edited to add: this also suggests that racism thrives in a mean and hopeless environment, or that whatever leads to substance abuse and suicide also leads to racism and hate. You can't take racism out of the equation, because pockets of substance abuse and suicide in black communities didn't produce black Trump voters in substantial numbers.

[shanny]

3. I'm thinking it's the "nearly extinguished

sense of hope" / desperation. In my experience the people who get hooked on drugs are not just making bad decisions or willing to take risks, they are very unhappy already.

[femmedem]

5. Yes, on reflection that is both a more true and empathetic assesssment. Thanks. n/t

[Uncle Joe]

2. This is a good read.

Thanks for the thread Judi Lynn

[dalton99a]

4. So they want more time to enjoy their opioids and intrafamily fornication

[Nitram]

6. OK, maybe instead of "could help explain why" should have been "is correlated with."

Very poor headline.

[Aristus]

7. Worried about premature death, so vote for the guy who promises to sever your only access

to healthcare?

Yeah, that makes about as much sense as the rest of right-wing ideology...

[eppur_se_muova]

8. How do we know the suicides aren't people who are sick of Republicans ?

That could also explain a LOT of the substance abuse.

[Alwaysna]

9. Do people with lower educations

Drink more, do dope and kill themselves more than the higher educated?

[malthaussen]

10. Correlation is not causation.

My own informal survey indicates that almost 100% of Trump voters have drunk milk.

But it is an interesting enough correlation. It suggests that the psychological conditions that lead to self-abuse/suicide might also lead to voting for Trump as an act of desperation: both suicide and a Trump vote are symptoms of an underlying malaise.

Or, you know, it could just be coincidence. The world gets weird like that.

-- Mal

[BigmanPigman]

11. What about all the people who didn't vote for him and

want to/will kill themselves due to no affordable health care? How about those who are now subjected to bullying by neo Nazis and racists and other hate filled groups who feel empowered? How about people who are already marginally depressed and can't stand another day of having him destroy the country? What about the increased number of teen suicides by legally purchased guns and access to guns?