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posted by on Thursday March 30 2017, @02:03PM   Printer-friendly

Rural America is facing an existential crisis. As cities continue to grow and prosper, small towns are shrinking. That fundamental divide played itself out in the recent presidential election.

[...] The trend is clear: Rural America is literally fading away. It shouldn't come as a surprise, therefore, that the opioid overdose epidemic has hit rural states, like Kentucky and West Virginia, especially hard. And the latest research from the CDC also shouldn't come as a surprise: Suicides in rural America (labeled as non-core) have increased over 40% in 16 years.

From 1999 to 2015, suicide rates increased everywhere in America. On average, across the U.S., suicides increased from 12.2 per 100,000 to 15.7 per 100,0001, an increase of just under 30%. However, in rural America, the suicide rate surged over 40%2, from just over 15 per 100,000 to roughly 22 per 100,000. Similarly, the suicide rate in micropolitan areas (defined as having a population between 10,000-49,999) went from 14 per 100,000 to 19 per 100,000, an increase of around 35%.

On the flip side, major cities saw much smaller increases in suicide rates, on the order of 10%. The graph depicts a clear pattern: Suicide rates are highest in the most rural parts of the country, and they slowly decrease as urbanization increases. As of 2015, the suicide rate in rural areas (22 per 100,000) is about 40% higher than in the nation as a whole (15.7 per 100,000) and 83% higher than in large cities (12 per 100,000).

-- submitted from IRC


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  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 30 2017, @03:30PM (7 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 30 2017, @03:30PM (#486513)

    Thgat's less ignorant, uneducated, trump voting jesus freaks to worry about. Basically, the dead weight of the country.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 30 2017, @04:36PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 30 2017, @04:36PM (#486578)

    Your forgot the /sarcasm tag...

    If I'm wrong and you did not forget then you need to reevaluate your values.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 30 2017, @05:27PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 30 2017, @05:27PM (#486617)

      It has no values, so there is nothing to evaluate.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 30 2017, @05:25PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 30 2017, @05:25PM (#486613)

    How much was your welfare check this month?

  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 30 2017, @06:33PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 30 2017, @06:33PM (#486673)

    The problem is those people are still human beings, and I think they deserve to live with dignity even if I don't believe in their sky wizard. :(

    The larger problem I was getting at with my comment above about UBI or suicide (a false dilemma, but close enough I think) is that they seem to be choosing suicide over "omg socialism." That is the part that makes me truly sad. I use the "omg socialism" thing because that's their viewpoint by and large. Of course, why is that their viewpoint? It's because they have such of a commendable work ethic. They need to work, and they find it insulting to be merely given the means to live by. I think that's part of what's hiding behind the "Stalin! Mao! Pol Pot! Venezuela!" thing.

    A lot of times I get the impression that stray cats and dogs get better treatment than stray humans. While on some levels that makes a lot of sense, since the stray human has many more faculties at his disposal to improve his condition, it does sort of invoke the joke about cats being the true rulers of the planet.

    One thing to think about that comes to mind with that other article on mice. Cats on a farm at least provide a utility: they control mice. Stray humans have other utilities they may naturally provide. How do we bridge the gap? How do we allow people to feel dignity as valuable and contributing members of their community?

    Mass automation causing prices to dramatically come down is one of the popular attempts to bridge this gap given the current economic system, but it strikes me as shoehorning something of a different nature into a model that doesn't quite belong.

    The challenge is how we design an economic system that uses free markets where they excel but also finds an equitable way to ensure that nobody needs to go hungry or sleep in a ditch while preserving the dignity of the working man.

    • (Score: 2) by edIII on Thursday March 30 2017, @09:26PM (2 children)

      by edIII (791) on Thursday March 30 2017, @09:26PM (#486754)

      The challenge is how we design an economic system that uses free markets where they excel but also finds an equitable way to ensure that nobody needs to go hungry or sleep in a ditch while preserving the dignity of the working man.

      What you are basically saying is that economies should serve humanity, and not humanity serving economies. As it stands, Capitalism is a religious zealot loudly complaining that only it is the staunch defender of Freedom, Happiness, and Security. Of course all while walking around in the clothing of the working man loudly proclaiming the virtues of a free market while consciously attempt to make it anything but free.

      Our current economic system can only be described as advanced slavery and a highly advanced income inequality scam that has pushed 99% of the money into the hands of 8 people. Out of billions.

      You cry for dignity, but the reality is all that is being asked is a living wage. Being able to work a reasonable time period each day (~8 hours) and to enjoy the majority of your daily production and put it towards your future. Instead, suits magically make hundreds of times more, greatly implying that they actually produce hundreds of times more work which is factually ludicrous. The dignity is being able to work, live, and be happy doing it. That is not something Corporate America agrees with since it would mean that they need to put aside their unchecked avarice and actually start acting like equal members of society.

      The true answer is to massacre all the suits. For every rich execufuck we kill means hundreds of jobs that can be kept, and scores of jobs that can be awarded a living wage. Not to mention the removal of their undue influence on politics that allows them to bypass paying other Americans directly, and just taking their money for shitty products made in China.

      Remove the influence of the rich by killing them and we will find that economies all of the sudden start serving us instead of them.

      --
      Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 31 2017, @02:51AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 31 2017, @02:51AM (#486894)

        The true answer is to massacre all the suits...

        Won't work. The dead 'suits' will all (eventually) be replaced by the wealthy bankers that invested in them and it will be business as usual.

        This was tried before with the French Revolution (1789 - 1799). The wealthy bankers just regrouped and made a comeback with a fresh batch of 'front people' to represent their interests.

        Now (2017) France is experiencing a refugee crisis (orchestrated/facilitated by said bankers) and all the problems it has/is causing.

        The only way to get rid of this problem is to get rid of money altogether. The Amish prove people can coexist and co-operate without the need for money.

      • (Score: 1) by redneckmother on Friday March 31 2017, @03:34AM

        by redneckmother (3597) on Friday March 31 2017, @03:34AM (#486910)

        Aerosmith published a good song a few years ago... "Eat The Rich".

        --
        Mas cerveza por favor.