It should come as no surprise that the highest rates for covid-19 deaths
and murders are found mainly in red states. A political mind-set that prioritizes racial resentment, anti-science zealotry and manufactured cultural wedge issues is not likely to be conducive to long, healthy lives. Indeed, antagonism toward “elites” (e.g., experts) often impedes common-sense measures that save lives.
Steven H. Woolf, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University,
writes in the Journal of American Medicine: “Disparities in health across the 50 states are growing, a trend that began in the 1990s. For example, in 1990, life expectancy in New York was lower than in Oklahoma, but the trajectories separated sharply in the 1990s and, by 2016, New York ranked third in life expectancy, whereas Oklahoma ranked 45th.” Moreover, “the widening gap cannot be explained by changes in the racial and ethnic composition of states, because the same trend occurred within racial and ethnic groups.”
[. . .]
The same divergence between red and blue states exists with respect to murder rates, as well. The center-left think tank
Third Way reports: “In 2020, per capita murder rates were 40% higher in states won by Donald Trump than those won by Joe Biden.” Even more dramatically, “8 of the 10 states with the highest murder rates in 2020 voted for the Republican presidential nominee in every election this century.”
[. . .]
The difference between red and blue states might be related to gun laws, higher levels of poverty (where
red states also predominate), low education levels (also worse in
red states), cruddy health care (
same) or relatively low economic opportunity (again,
red states dominate the worst states).
Whatever the specific reason, it’s clear the governing philosophy of right-wing states (e.g., low spending; prioritization of cultural wedge issues; anti-elitism) leads to deadly results.
