I edit most of my writing through
Grammarly. Whenever I type ‘elderly,’ my faithful editor reminds me that some
people are offended by the word and suggests I substitute the word ‘older.’
This is the world we live in. Our society
is sensitive about what we call old people, but we’re not concerned about the
quality of their lives. In
particular, we aren’t interested in the health and welfare of older men.
Richard
V. Reeves published an op-ed essay yesterday about a health crisis
among American men. According to Reeves, “The life expectancy gap
between men and women widened from less than five years in 2010 to nearly six
years in 2002.”
Why are men dying at an earlier age? Reeves
reports that men’s life expectancy is going down due to “deaths
of despair,” most notably suicide and drug poisoning, and to higher death
rates from COVID-19.
Men
take their own lives at four times the rate of women, and this disparity in suicide rates increases with age. Among people aged 75-84, men’s suicide rate is 7
times higher than the rate for women.
Alcohol abuse also contributes to “deaths of
despair” among American men. The Centers
for Disease Control reported that male deaths attributed to alcohol abuse increased
by 26.8 percent between 2016-2017 and 2020-2021.
The Biden-Harris administration has done
virtually nothing to address the growing disparity between mortality rates for
American men and women and the high suicide rate for men, and older men in
particular. President Biden and VP Harris have shown more concern about the
right of gender-confused boys to play girls’ basketball than the rising mortality rate for the nation’s male citizens.
If Harris is elected “the president of
joy, ” things may change. Perhaps she’ll distribute some of her joy
to ordinary American men.
Somehow, I doubt it. If Harris becomes
president, her joy zone will be restricted to her base: Hollywood, the
intellectual and media elites, the financial class, and the DEI crowd.
Average American men will see their quality of life continue to deteriorate. And
suicide rates for elderly men will remain high.
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| Cheer up! The President of Joy will solve all your problems. |
