• halyk.the.red@lemmy.ml
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    2 days ago

    An article from 2011 is hardly an indication of recent American health. There was a whole pandemic since then.

    The article about wages and inflation does not take price gouging into account, or people having to work multiple jobs.

    Perhaps the less drug deaths could be due to less opiods being prescribed, due to America losing it’s poppy farms in Afghanistan.

    Beside those points, the diagnosis isn’t necessary, not without seeing your psychology degree.

    • PhilipTheBucket@ponder.catOP
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      2 days ago

      The article about wages and inflation does not take price gouging into account

      I knew this was going to come up, I don’t know why I didn’t address it. Yes it does take price gouging into account. ‘Inflation-adjusted wage growth’ includes price gouging in the ‘inflation-adjusted’ part. Food prices have gone up by about 25%, and wages at the lowest end of the scale have gone up by about 35%. That’s probably invisible to you, because if you’re on Lemmy, you’re probably not at the lowest end of the scale, whereas the food prices going up is definitely visible to you.

      Perhaps the less drug deaths could be due to less opiods being prescribed, due to America losing it’s poppy farms in Afghanistan.

      Can I do this, too? Perhaps the less drug deaths could be due to the increased wages and social safety net, giving breathing room to people who were previously desperate, and sending fewer people into a strangling cycle of addiction and pain with only one predictable way out. I don’t even have to cite a study! I can just say “perhaps.”

      Beside those points, the diagnosis isn’t necessary, not without seeing your psychology degree.

      Up to you. I’m trying to help you, but it seems you don’t want it. These things happen, good luck with your understandings.

      • halyk.the.red@lemmy.ml
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        2 days ago

        Well, I never asked for your help, and nor do I need it, however well intentioned it may be. Like you said about me, it’s coming from a good place, so I can’t fault you for that.

        It seems to me that we both want better, we’re just seeing it through different perspectives. We’re both looking at a subject through a glass of water. The light on the subject will refract and reflect differently depending on how you view it, and from my viewpoint, the glass is half empty.