The whole point of free speech is not to make ideas exempt from criticism but to expose them to it.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Like they say, a picture (or in this case, a graphic) is worth a thousand words.


Here's another article from Nate Silver that my old pals Bob and Mike will find interesting I'm sure. But really. Just look at the picture.

5 comments:

Michael Sanborn said...

I've looked at the picture. What it tells me is that health care in the US is expensive. We knew that going in. It also tells me we don't take very good care of ourselves. We knew that, too.

Maybe if we brought back physical education to the schools, radically changed our diet, took our kids' ipods and laptops away and encouraged outdoor exercise, we could move our little circle up and to the left without sending our children trillions of dollars into debt.

caheidelberger said...

I'm all about those solutions, Michael. Forward!

In the meantime, we still have medical bills driving Americans into bankruptcy and dragging down the economy, and insurers profiting exorbitantly off the sick. Time to save money with Medicare E!

interested party said...

Hi Bill and Bob (don't think I know Michael). Just dropped in to acknowledge my support for your work.

Bob Newland said...

Thanks for the note, Interested. If you feel like it, drop me a line by email (newland@rapidcity.com). I'd like to know you by your street handle. If you feel like it. Anonymity guaranteed.

[aaron] said...

Michael, that graph is based on life expectancy... I'm no statistician, but I'm pretty sure the data started with the actual average age at death for citizens of each country. That would lead me to believe that this is less a comment on kids with their ipods and laptops as it is on the older generations with their motorcarriages, microwaves and food preservatives. The same generations that have turned the insurance industry into a cash-grab at the expense of the rest of us. Also the same generation that (ostensibly) axed physical ed (Did they really? I thought kids today still had gym class...) in the name of saving money.

It's a societal problem that is going to take more than a little "encouragement" to solve.

The older generations have already been "sending our children trillions of dollars into debt" for decades now with crony capitalism and planned obsolescence... it just hasn't become obvious (and the tab hasn't come due) until recently.