(4) Two huge costs.
*Healthcare insurance more than four times what it cost in 2000.
A brutally expensive category that cries out for systemic policy changes.
*Apartment rents in the past 20 years up 135% compared with personal income up 77%.
*Number of rental units under $600/month: 7.2 million compared with 9.4 million in 2022.
*Median age of a first time home buyer is 36; in 1981, it was 29.
More corporate ownership of apartments and more higher income renters add to upward pressure on rents.
(5) The USA has leadership in many of the ways a person can die.
*Gun-related homicides are 22x those of European Union countries.
*Car crashes are 4x those of Germany.
*With 330 million population, it has 70,000 overdose deaths; European Union, with 440 million, has 5,800.
*An American is 2x as likely to die from a fire.
*The USA has 2x the deaths of those under 15 years of age.
There is something seriously wrong with American society and, inter alia, the total triumph of individualism over community, despite people giving loud lip service to the latter as a desired societal characteristic.
(6) People are more anxious.
*27% have relevant symptoms, more than triple that of five years ago.
An upward trend existed before the pandemic; there is also more recognition of symptoms.
*Adding to anxiety: sales of AR-15 guns exceeded 1.8 million in 2023; in 2006, the number was 400,000.
On average, every American has a gun; mass shootings continue. Legislative reform, and judicial support thereof, is needed. The majority, but the mere mention of NRA opposition makes cowards of politicians.
*Below a Bachelor’s degree, the impact of AI could be 50%; with a Bachelor’s, 30%.
AI is a relatively new addition to the list of anxiety producers. Estimates vary widely, but the anticipated job loss in certain categories from the impact of AI could be 25-50%.
*Gen Z is 28% in favor of either a democracy or a dictatorship. The Silent Generation is 98% pro-democracy.
*90% of young people are unlikely to join the military.
A transition toward wanting a strong leader (left or right) who will dictate to us seems evident.
*Coupled with anxiety is a “who cares” attitude. Only 70% of people respond to the conventional population survey, compared with 90% in 2014.
*In 1994, 6% had distaste for both political parties; the number is 27%.
Closely connected to the absence of any belief in control is stopping out of the political process.
*The health impact of loneliness is equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day and greater than the impact of six alcoholic drinks per day.
I failed to note how the researchers figured these data points out, but there is intuitive directional logic to their conclusions. Next they must calibrate the distinction between living alone and loneliness.
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