A Super-Power Health Audit!

Reading Between the Lines…

Of course, our leaders will have you believe that America is the land of opportunity; that our schools are the best; that we lead in the world in everything; that we are the smartest; that we are the mightiest Superpower that ever was…

However, inasmuch as we are Internet people, people who don’t automatically accept the government’s penchant for putting a nice spin on things, we decided to do our own checking.

To get an overview of this nation’s health, it helps to google around some of the statistics on health, the economy, education, drug and alcohol addiction and some of the other specifics that help shape our understanding of what the reality is.

Are we really a healthy country that is at the cutting-edge? Is home life in America something that sets a sterling example? Have we really advanced to a level where people understand each other? Are we prepared for the future? Are we getting the education that we need? Are our health needs being addressed? Will there be economic opportunities waiting for each graduate? Will we be able to look forward with optimism to a comfortable future?
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These questions cause us to look diligently at the findings in order to draw our own conclusions.
They are the result of viewing a number of stats gathered across the board from a variety of sources.

Here are a few of the statistics played back to you on some of the areas that define a culture’s progress:

8.2%of the population over 12 years of age used drugs over the last month; that’s approximately 24 million people…

Another 15 million people are alcoholics; 500,000 of those are between the ages of 9 and 12…

40 million are functional illiterates; and another 20 million cannot balance their check books, or fill out a job application…

Between 35 and 40 million people in the US live below the poverty line!

The top 2% of the population owns more than 60% of the country’s wealth!

The top 1 ½ % of wage earners have more after taxes than the bottom 40% of wage earners…

More than 30 million people do not have a health care program!

While the unemployment rate has remained relatively steady between 5 and 6% it does not reflect those who have given up looking for jobs or fallen between the cracks…

6.6% of employees in full time jobs report heavy drinking, defined as drinking five or more drinks per occasion on five or more days in the past 30 days.

The highest percentage of heavy drinkers (12.2%) is found among unemployed adults between the age of 26 to 34

Up to 40% of all industrial fatalities and 47% of industrial injuries can be linked to alcohol consumption and alcoholism.

In 2000, almost 7 million persons age 12 to 20 was a binge drinker; that is about one in five persons under the legal drinking age was a binge drinker.

In 1996, local law enforcement agencies made an estimated 1,467,300 arrests nationwide for driving under the influence of alcohol.

Approximately one percent of adults (two million individuals), however, meet the criteria of a pathological gambler. Another 2 to 3 percent have less significant, yet serious, problems with their gambling.

6.5% of black students --7.8% of Hispanic students and 5% of white students do not finish high school!

Les Aaron
www.lesaaron.blogspot.com