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Red State Death
Did you know suicide rates were 50 percent higher in strong Bush states?
October 28, 2004 | Permalink
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» KILLER FACT from CHASE ME LADIES, I'M IN THE CAVALRY
Today's Killer Fact from Matthew Yglesias. I suspect the explanation is that the Cow States tend to vote Republican, and rural areas have a higher suicide rate than cities. (In the UK the Scottish Highlands have the highest suicide rate).
The most... [Read More]
Tracked on Oct 28, 2004 10:50:21 PM
» Gift Basket
from Tom Jamme's Blog
Sweet Blessings, a new Christian-based online shop featuring cookie bouquets, candy bouquets and gift baskets, opens with a campaign to donate a portion of all profits to Habitat For Humanity. The devastation of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, while not a... [Read More]
Tracked on Oct 7, 2005 9:24:03 AM
» Gift Basket
from Tom Jamme's Blog
Sweet Blessings, a new Christian-based online shop featuring cookie bouquets, candy bouquets and gift baskets, opens with a campaign to donate a portion of all profits to Habitat For Humanity. The devastation of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, while not a... [Read More]
Tracked on Oct 7, 2005 9:26:03 AM
Comments
Reddy-red Alaska also has a rape rate 3 times the national average. Blame Republicans?
You could... except that a lot of the social problems in Alaska -- especially as a per-capita measure -- are endemic in Democratic-leaning (read: Native) rural areas.
Maybe they're frustrated because they're screwed by Republicans. I honestly don't know.
Posted by: Grumpy | Oct 28, 2004 9:19:54 PM
Divorce rates are higher too.
Posted by: WG | Oct 28, 2004 9:24:40 PM
Death rates in Iraq are higher, as well.
Posted by: Sark | Oct 28, 2004 9:27:37 PM
Death rates in Iraq are higher, as well.
And Iraq is a Bush State ~ pun intended.
Posted by: poputonian | Oct 28, 2004 9:39:37 PM
The interesting thing is, if you look at red states vs. blue states, generally the red states are worse of socially and economically, and the blue states are better off. If you look at red counties vs. blue counties, however, the opposite holds true, unless I'm mistaken, at least with murder rates.
My guess: within a whole state, poor economies and social problems lead to conditions in which Republicans flourish (e.g. xenophobia, militarism, anger at authority, etc). However, at a more local level, richer people tend to be Republican, and poorer people Democratic, and richer people live in better neighborhoods with better overall social conditions. However, a whole state cannot be a "good neighborhood" or a "bad neighborhood" because no state consists solely of doctors and lawyers, or solely of retail clerks and janitors, so, when you get to more aggregated levels, i.e. states, you don't see many rich Republican states or poor Democratic ones (New Mexico is an interesting exception), since at the level of a whole society, general distressing social conditions lead to more appeal to conservatism (I think Utah is also an interesting exception).
Posted by: Julian Elson | Oct 28, 2004 9:51:47 PM
Hehe...I think this is like the official inauguration of election fatigue. Good post.
Posted by: spacetoast | Oct 28, 2004 10:16:29 PM
Obesity rates are also much higher in the red states.
Let's face it: voting Republican makes you obese, divorced, and depressed.
More proof that Bush is bad for this country.
Posted by: Diana | Oct 28, 2004 10:36:21 PM
I'm by no means a Bush apologist, I consider myself to be a very partisan Democrat. But this falls into the category of post hoc ergo procter hoc (thank you Aaron Sorkin). Roughly translated for all you non-Latin majors, it means after this therefore because this.
Oil prices rose after Elvis' death, but that does not mean that there was a link between the two events. Similarly, I don't think the fact that there is a corrolation between political leanings statewide and suicide rates.
There may be alink in the fact that red states tend to be more poor, and more needing of federal assistance, thus leading to more poverty and then an increase in the suicide rate, but no direct effect.
Posted by: Nate | Oct 28, 2004 10:42:12 PM
If you live out here in the East (and you aren't a downtown gay guy) you probably haven't heard much about meth: labs exploding, tweakers up for five days straight, rampant car theft to pay for meth habits, smurfing for pseudoephedrine, etc. If you plot a map of where meth is bad and real bad, it breaks towards the Red States and the Reddest parts of those states: rural areas.
My prescription for the meth problem is pretty tough starting with a big takeback of civil liberties for anyone with the slightest suspicion of cooking or dealing meth. But to sound like a 1960's liberal, the underlying reasons for the addiction are largely economic not moral. The economic model for rural America is broken. It is the economy not the society that producers losers. And losers with nothing to lose become meth addicts.
Next Thursday morning take a look at the county level Red-Blue US map. Thin coastal strips of blue with some urban blobs in the Midwest. The meth map of the US is almost identical.
Edwards highlighted meth in the campaign a few weeks ago. Meth and the collapse of the rural economy should keep him busy for the next four years. If he does a good job, we change the political landscape of this country. For the better.
Posted by: Wren | Oct 28, 2004 10:48:01 PM
I would attribute this primarily to 1) greater poverty and 2) greater access to guns. The correlation between access to guns and suicide rates is high.
Posted by: John Greenman | Oct 28, 2004 10:55:00 PM
The poor red state/rich red county phenomenon is not hard to explain. Republicans' economic appeal is primarily to the rich, but their cultural appeal is primarily to the rural. States with big cities that are centers of commerce are, on the whole, both Democratic states and rich states. But the richer people in those states tend to live out in the suburbs, so the suburban counties are more Republican.
I've been wondering for a while if skyrocketing urban rents could eventually drive poor minority populations out into the hinterlands and turn American politics upside down yet again. But I think that bubble might be in the process of bursting.
Posted by: Matt McIrvin | Oct 28, 2004 11:03:21 PM
"I would attribute this primarily to 1) greater poverty and 2) greater access to guns. The correlation between access to guns and suicide rates is high."
I wonder if this could be refinded down to membership in the NRA is bad for your health, mental or otherwise.
Posted by: ken | Oct 28, 2004 11:08:10 PM
FACT: the blue states hold the patents on strife, suffering, genocide, and pure evil.
FACT: the blue states main exports are pollution, hatred, and death.
P.S. With 5 days away, Zogby and Rasmussen both show Bush winning.
Posted by: Modern Crusader | Oct 28, 2004 11:32:55 PM
What will it mean when the Republicans unveil 6 hour lines at polling stations in Black neighborhoods in Florida and Ohio?
Now that we've gotten through October, this is the November surprise.
How will we react?
Posted by: Aaron Walz | Oct 28, 2004 11:41:27 PM
Raining in Pennsylvania, chilly in Detroit, Ohio and St. Louis. Sunny in Florida.
http://hurricane.accuweather.com/adcbin/public/headlines.asp?iws=5
Let's hope for some better weather.
Posted by: Aaron Walz | Oct 28, 2004 11:49:10 PM
What should white minority voters do now that racist Democrats are intimidating them and threatening them in swing states?
Posted by: Modern Crusader | Oct 29, 2004 12:05:17 AM
Modern Crusader
How to break this to you?
John Zogby was just on the Daily Show and predicted a Kerry win in the election.
I predict the red state suicide rate will increase after november.
Posted by: postit | Oct 29, 2004 12:12:18 AM
Moder Crusader
If you remember anything about Florida 2000 and Palm Beach County in particular then
What should white minority voters do now that racist Democrats are intimidating them and threatening them in swing states?
then this would indeed be sweet justice.
Though I fail to see were you can inject the race card into this.
white minority voters ?
Posted by: postit | Oct 29, 2004 12:19:52 AM
"Did you know suicide rates were 50 percent higher in strong Bush states?"
Can you blame them? I'd kill myself if I lived in Oklahoma.
Posted by: Petey | Oct 29, 2004 12:31:07 AM
what John Greenman said. A suicidal person with a gun is a dead person.
Posted by: Robert Waldmann | Oct 29, 2004 12:38:24 AM
"Did you know suicide rates were 50 percent higher in strong Bush states?"
They say those red-staters committed suicide. But remember, they said Vince Foster did too. ;-)
Posted by: synykyl | Oct 29, 2004 12:53:27 AM
FACT: the blue states hold the patents on strife, suffering, genocide, and pure evil.
Hm. Ponder this, Modern Crusader: which region experiences an epidemic of rampant lesbianism in middle schools? South-eastern Oklahoma! (As reported by GOP senatorial candidate there.)
Then again, lesbians have lowest incidence of AIDS, which shows Gods blessings. Clearly, they are not evil.
On a more serious note, Atlanta and Newark have very similar size and ethnic composition of the population, mostly Black inner city, and Newark has less than half of the crime of Atlanta. Better welfare, better education, better access to mass transit and jobs (the latter is quite certain)? Or just higher level of civilization and that side of Mason-Dixon line?
Posted by: piotr | Oct 29, 2004 1:35:11 AM
Hmm. Does it says more about the republicans than about the democrats?
Why are the dems not higher in places where some people are that desperate?
Posted by: yabonn | Oct 29, 2004 4:56:15 AM
The comment on meth holds true for the Central Valley here in CA, where the newspapers breathlessly announce that 'estimate' up to 90% of the meth labs in the country are located here.
I think that there is also a strategic factor at work here as well. Making meth is best done on the sly in a rural setting, as the odors and by-products are easy to detect.
One of the latest developments is the increase of operations where the meth is cooked on public land.
Also, if you're clever, and have some nerve, it can be a quick way to make money. I knew one fellow who did so, but was caught by an undercover officer or informant the second time he tried his luck.
Posted by: The Dark Avenger | Oct 29, 2004 5:13:06 AM
Did you know suicide rates were 50 percent higher in strong Bush states?
The Democrats murder them and make it look like suicide. Bastards.
Posted by: abb1 | Oct 29, 2004 6:32:45 AM
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