Thursday, January 27, 2005
THIS JUST IN: BUSH WORRIED ABOUT BLACK PEOPLE
BUSH WORRIED ABOUT "LIFE EXPECTANCY GAP"
Bush says that because black men don’t live as long as white men, they should support his social security plan.
Once again this is a brilliant use of misinformation. The first question to be asked is why do black men not live as long as white men? The reason is not what you may think.
The average life expectancy of a black man in America is 64 and the life expectancy of a white man in America is 72. This does not mean that black men are most likely to die at age 64 and white men are most likely to die at age 72. What it does point to is that there are systemic problems within the black community that drag the average age of death lower. For example infant mortality is higher in black communities than white ones, homicide rates are higher in black communities than white ones, and various other sociological reasons that drag the average age of death lower for blacks than whites.
What Bush is trying to argue, is that if you are black, you won’t live to see retirement, so you should invest in private social security accounts. The truth is that if you are black, and you live to 30, you are just as likely to live to see your retirement as a white man who lives to the age of thirty.
If Bush and his "compassionate conservative" friends were seriously concerned with the welfare of the black community and the "life expectancy gap," they should focus on the actual causes of the "life expectancy gap." Instead they have chosen to manipulate information to get support for their agenda.
For more information on why Bush's privatization plan sucks:
http://www.dollarsandsense.org/1104spriggs.html
Bush says that because black men don’t live as long as white men, they should support his social security plan.
Once again this is a brilliant use of misinformation. The first question to be asked is why do black men not live as long as white men? The reason is not what you may think.
The average life expectancy of a black man in America is 64 and the life expectancy of a white man in America is 72. This does not mean that black men are most likely to die at age 64 and white men are most likely to die at age 72. What it does point to is that there are systemic problems within the black community that drag the average age of death lower. For example infant mortality is higher in black communities than white ones, homicide rates are higher in black communities than white ones, and various other sociological reasons that drag the average age of death lower for blacks than whites.
What Bush is trying to argue, is that if you are black, you won’t live to see retirement, so you should invest in private social security accounts. The truth is that if you are black, and you live to 30, you are just as likely to live to see your retirement as a white man who lives to the age of thirty.
If Bush and his "compassionate conservative" friends were seriously concerned with the welfare of the black community and the "life expectancy gap," they should focus on the actual causes of the "life expectancy gap." Instead they have chosen to manipulate information to get support for their agenda.
For more information on why Bush's privatization plan sucks:
http://www.dollarsandsense.org/1104spriggs.html
# posted by The Punisher @ Thursday, January 27, 2005 
