What Causes Death Among Americans?

I have been doing some research on what causes death among Americans.  Here is what I have found:

Obesity

In the United States, 36% of adults and 21% of children are obese.  Each year, 280,000 people die from obesity.  Obesity is caused by eating too much and moving too little.  These obesity facts come at an annual cost of $147 billion.  That is a lot of money.  It seems to me that if people took better care of themselves, we could free up a bunch of money for many great causes.  The bottom line is that 767 people a day choose to die of obesity.  The weapon of choice, food.  Do we get rid of food?  Think about it.

Alcoholism

Every year 88,000 people die in the United States from alcoholism.  Divide the annual deaths by 365, and you get 241 deaths per day.  The weapon of choice alcohol.  Do we get rid of alcohol?  Think about it.

Suicide

Suicide kills 44,965 people each year in the United States.  Seventy-one percent of suicide attempts are with drug overdoses; fourteen percent are cuttings or piercing, and six percent are with guns.  Over half of successful efforts are with the use of firearms, seventeen percent succeed using hanging, and twelve percent of overdoses are successful.  Every day 123 people kill themselves.  The weapons of choice, guns, bedsheets, belts, rope, and drugs to name a few.  Do we get rid of all of these methods?  Think about it.

Abortion

Every day in the United States between 2500 and 3000 abortions get performed.  I am pro-life with the carve-outs of incest, rape, danger to the mother’s life, and severe and or deadly invitro congenital disabilities.  So to be generous, let’s say that one-half of the daily abortions are carve-outs.  That still leaves over 1250 deaths per day.  I am also pro-choice.  Here is what that means to me.  Women have at least fifteen forms of birth control available to them to prevent unwanted pregnancy.  They have the freedom to choose one or more that works for them.  I am also pro-choice for the unborn child.  What choice do they get when their mother decides to abort them?  The most privileged women on earth selectively murder their unborn children as a form of contraception.  That is not okay with me.  Where are the marches and town hall meetings regarding this massive murder rate?  Did we ban abortion?  Think about it.

Car Accidents

In the United States 122 people die each day from car accidents.  The weapon, a motor vehicle.  Do we get rid of all cars and trucks?  Think about it.

Airplanes

On September 11, 2001, 2996 people perished in a terrorist attack on the United States.  The weapon of choice, airplanes.  Did we get rid of planes?  Think about it.

Mass Shootings

According to Wikipedia, a mass shooting is commonly defined as a shooting resulting in at least four victims, excluding the perpetrator. When the definition is restricted to four or more people killed, data shows 146 mass shootings between 1967 and 2017, with an average of eight people dead including the perpetrator.  In my humble observation, mass shootings are bullshit, no matter how you slice it.  They shouldn’t happen.  Facts show that 26 of the 27 deadliest mass shootings in the United States have one thing in common.  What is that?  Fatherlessness.  That’s right, the shooter in 26 of these shootings didn’t have a fathers influence in their life.  Current statistics inform us that 27% of children in the United States are without the physical presence of a father.  The National Center for Fathering states, “If fatherlessness were classified as a disease, it would be an epidemic worthy of attention.”  If this is the case, what are we doing about fatherlessness?  Gun violence kills 36.4 people per day in the United States.  It ranks eighteenth in the leading causes of death.  Would stricter gun laws make a difference?  Not likely.  Chicago has the most stringent gun laws in the country yet gun deaths happen at a staggering rate each day.  If these people want to kill people, they will find a way to do it.  Pressure cookers, homemade bombs, vehicles, knives, you name it, if there is a will, there is a way.  The question is, ‘what are we as individuals and as parents going to do to be part of the solution?  Think about it.

Mental Illness

Fifteen million children three to seventeen years old have diagnosable mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders in the United States each year.  Twenty-two percent of people ages eighteen to twenty-five have a mental illness, and twenty percent of these people do not get help.  The majority of the perpetrators in mass shootings have a history of mental illness.  What are we doing about it?  We have been told ‘if you see something, say something’ for years.  In the most recent shooting in Florida where 17 innocent people lost their lives, there were many reports to authorities that the shooter was bad news.  What happened?  Someone dropped the ball.  The red flags were copious.  All of them were ultimately ignored.  How sad is that?  It isn’t about the gun(s).  It never has been and never will be.  Guns, and food, and airplanes, and bed sheets, and drugs, and cars, and alcohol don’t kill people.  It is the choices that individuals make about the use of these things that kill people.

Q&A

Do we need to ban guns from law-abiding citizens?  No.

Do we need to keep guns from people who should not get them?  Yes

Do we need to ban bump stocks?  Yes

Do we need more comprehensive background checks and systems?  Yes

Do we need to beef up our mental health system? Yes.

Do we need to step up our parenting?  Yes

Do we need to address fatherlessness?  Yes

Do we need to hold the FBI and law enforcement accountable for their mishandling of information regarding dangerous perpetrators?  Yes.

Do we need to stop pointing our finger at others and asking “what are YOU going to do about this?”  Yes.

Do we need to consider how WE are going to be part of the solution?  Yes.

Do we need to protect our children the same way we protect our banks, Hollywood elites, presidents, diplomats, professional athletes, etc.?  Yes.

It’s Not About The Gun

Think about it.  It is not about the gun.  Just like it is not about the food, alcohol, vehicles, bedsheets, knives, and ropes.

I invite you to engage in an informed discussion about how each of us can be part of the solution to a disturbing challenge.

Stay true and be you —

Annie