So with regard to lifespans:
Mean life expectancy would be the average age at death,
Median life expectancy would be the age which 50% of people will die prior to reaching, and which 50% of people will live past, and
Mode life expectancy would be the most common age at death.
Here is the frequency of male deaths by age
Thus, from this chart we can see the infant mortality is significant, that the average/mean age at death is 76, the median age is just past 80, and the mode is 86. As would be expected, if you reach a certain age, say 60, these number shift to the right a bit - if you make it to 60, the average/mean becomes 81.5, the median becomes 82.5 and the mode becomes 89. And the numbers for females are several years higher. Of course these shifts to older ages have a finite limit since everyone dies sooner or later!!!
52 comments:
Looks to me like they should raise the minimum age at which one can draw Social Security by at least 10 years, from 62 to 72. That would keep the system from running out of money.
Otto von Bismarck instituted old age pensions in 1889 and set the retirement age at 65. When Social Security was instituted under FDR in 1935, the retirement age was set at 65. At that time, 65 was the average American lifespan. In harmony with those previous intentions, the Social Security retirement age should be raised to at least 80. That should be a freebie, meaning workers would not have to contribute 15% of their income to SS their whole working lives. If workers are going to be required to give 15% of their income to the government for retirement, then the government should be prevented from borrowing (stealing) it and allow the worker to invest that money in the financial markets. Then instead of retiring at age 65 with the paltry amount the government returns on investment, the average worker would retire as a millionaire, probably over $1,500,000. If the worker dies at age 66, then the remainder of his SS money would go to his estate, not stay with the Feds. In sum, Social Security is a racket that shafts the worker.
Gents - I agree that the minimum age needs to increase; something has to be done or the system will go belly up soon. I would also add that SS was intended to be a safety net and not a retirement program. Most Americans are too dumb to be in charge of their retirement savings - even with SS, a huge number of folks have NO retirement savings. If these idiots are allowed to "invest" on their own, they would likely blow it and then have absolutely nothing for retirement - i.e. work until death!
If the government were to mandate a retirement savings program, they would have to establish guidelines. For example, the State of Indiana provides a menu of investment options, all of them safe, plus investment advisers to guide the process.
Interesting. I had to pay SS, but also paid TIAA, which turned out well.
DES, In order to keep government pension plans from going bankrupt so there will be enough money in the fund for retirees coming along behind you, what do you think of the idea of terminating benefits for those who recovered all their contributions plus interest earned on that investment? If people are getting 5 or 10 or 20 times what they invested in the program, it will go bankrupt. Once they recover their return on investment, no more checks.
Well, Mr. Branes (can just imagine what the S.F. stands for), what government would essentially be doing is providing the equivalent of a 401(k) plan instead of a pension, and government workers would scream to high heaven over that. However, pensions are mostly underfunded and create more and more debt until the bubble bursts, which it will one of these years. And the youngsters who will be forced to shoulder an unbearable tax burden, may at long last come after the oldsters, pitchforks in hand. I don't expect government pensions to become sustainable as long as those workers line the pockets of the politicians who write the pension laws. One hand washes the other, you know. But the day is coming when it will no longer be fun to be on the high end of DES's age chart.
Shiite Foor B - sounds good on surface, but had to think "What do you do with the folks who run out of benefits?" - euthanasia, deportation to Venezuela, Soylent Green?? One problem is that the government really doesn't invest all of the SS that folks are paying in - just shuffle the books.
Dean - right on, particularly the scumbag politicians.
At one time I thought three squares and a bunk would be the answer for people with nothing and no where to go and no friends or relatives to care for them. Then came to realize that has been tried and turned out to be a total failure due to crime and drugs infesting those "charity dorms," e.g. housing projects. Am thinking more and more that drug addiction may be the answer to many of society's problems and perhaps we should promote it. Rather than move in to charity or government funded housing, the addict prefers the out of doors so he can continue his drug use. The addict's unhealthy lifestyle contributes to an early death, usually in the 50's, thus relieving society of old age costs like Social Security payments, Medicare, and Medicaid for nursing homes.
Bud - I would add one more thing - the Drainbow crowd. Back in the day, there were the Rainbow children who were separating themselves from the mainstream culture - but at least they worked or otherwise provided for themselves. All you have to do is drive around Boulder and you will see Drainbows everywhere - leeches and a drain on society. They don't work, they think that public land is their home and bathroom, they choose to be homeless, and they aggressively panhandle to pay for their alcohol and drugs. They don't have to worry about money for essentials because of all of the free stuff that various and sundry organizations in Boulder provide. I have no problem helping the down and out due to circumstances generally out of their control, but most of the Drainbows are parasites.
Had never heard of Drainbows, Douglas E. Thanks for the information! Do any contemporary thinkers out there have any interesting ideas where this all might lead?
Because Drainbow contains the word rainbow, does it mean the Drainbows are fairies?
BBT - do you mean fairies as in the mythical sky fairies, some of whom claim to be a god? Or was it an old fashioned slam against gay folks - if so, you are showing your age.
Just as fairies appropriated and ruined the words gay and rainbow by using them to describe their sexual preference and "coalition," I guess normal folks appropriated and ruined the word fairy by using it to describe homosexuals instead of a Peter Pan character. Normal folks also ruined the words cornhole and cornholing by using them to refer to the delightful outdoor game formerly called bean bad toss, when they actually are a vulgar reference to homosexual acts. Regarding age, people can grow old without growing up. Lol!
Bean Bag - understand. But, on the other side, white supremacist, bigoted, Trump-lovers have also perverted the words "evangelical Christian"! COL :-)
There are frauds in the Southern Baptist Convention (like Russell Moore) who believe one cannot both support Trump and be an evangelical Christian. The logic is that being an evangelical requires “turning away from sin,” and since to support Trump is to commit sin, Trump supporters must turn away from the sin of supporting him, otherwise they are no longer evangelical. I suppose there are a few white supremacists and bigots who are Trump lovers, just as some of those bigots love various liberals like Jew-hating Illhan Omar, but if one believes that Trump supporters are mostly white supremacists and bigots, that person does, indeed, have a very clean brain.
In addition, nowadays there are so many meanings and uses of the word "evangelical" that it is mostly a useless word, like racist has become. Please see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evangelicalism
BBT, you make some good points about words losing or changing meaning. And about Trump, I try to separate the man from his policies, although one's policies can reflect the person. Trump is despicable by any measure known to human kind.
You better see a doctor for that TDS, DES. Your case seems particularly severe. Lol! Trump is actually a congenial, nice guy. Don't confuse the showman persona with the man. He loves the country, sees it going down the tube, is doing everything he can to prevent that, and fights back. I agree with you that he is despicable to those on the left, just as evil hates what is good. And, personally, I take a certain amount of pleasure in seeing the left being driven out of their minds as their Satanic ideology is being threatened. But, not to worry, in the end earthly evil will triumph for a time until Christ sets things right after the Tribulation. And, rest assured, until that time, the God of the Bible is still in control, one proof of that being the Clinton's went down in flames.
One thing I will never understand is the depth of the hatred that certain people of my acquaintance have for Trump. I have no idea from whence such deep-seated hate springs. A guy I know in his 40's, Christian, happily married, good job, lovely kids, told me it would be worth it for the country to collapse if that would be what it takes to get rid of Trump. In other words, he would be willing to sentence he and his family to permanent hell on earth just for the satisfaction of getting rid of Trump. I used to laugh when hearing about liberalism being a mental disorder, but that guy proves it.
Yes, some are afflicted with TDS, but I am not among them!! He is a twice divorced thrice married serial adulterer who has said despicable things about women; he is a liar, a cheat and one of the biggest con men ever; he is completely self-centered, and everything that he says and does is only for self advancement; he uses every deceitful monetary practice available to enrich himself, from stiffing contractors to using bankruptcy to avoid monetary commitments; he lives by Roger Stone's fundamental rules - attack, attack, attack; never back down; never admit being wrong or making an error; ridicule and mock anyone perceived as an enemy or threat. Congenial nice guy? BS!!!!!
"If you like your plan you can keep it. If you like your doctor you can keep him. My plan will reduce health insurance premiums $2,500 per family per year." So, who is the bigger liar, con man, and cheat? Trump? Or the gay mulatto?
BBT - that's diddly compared to the thousands of lies by the Orange Draft Dodger, both spoken as an individual and as the POSPOTUS.
It reminds me of Mark 4:13. (Satan comes along and takes the truth from people's hearts.) There could not be a more corrupt, vile, and wicked President than Obama. His Satanic evil and the damage he did to this country are not "diddly."
BBT - you only made one mistake - you put in Obama which should have read Trump!!
< sigh >
And that, my friend, is how civilizations end. People just don't get it.
Guess you won’t be voting for whopper teller Kamala Harris either, Douglas E, who told a radio audience she used to get high in college while listening to “Snoop” and “Tupac,” neither of whom released music until years after she graduated.
Not to fret, BBT. Sigmund Fraud once said, “The goal of all life is death.” He believed humans have a life instinct and death instinct. They have an instinct to live and reproduce which is called eros. The death drive, thanatos, seeks destruction and a return to an inorganic state. In some cases this aggressive drive turns inward, resulting in suicidal or reckless behavior. People, for various reasons, wish unconsciously or consciously, to die. Thus, the appeal of socialism is fulfillment of the death wish, as socialism in the 20th century has led to countless millions of deaths, not to mention the untold misery. Maybe, DES has the latest and greatest evolutionary insights as to whether or not mankind is evolving out of that death wish mentality.
Ahh, where to begin?
BBT - your Obama Derangement Syndrome lingers. You need to stop living in the past, worrying about past presidents, and start to assess the damage done by the current POSPOTUS.
FP - first, Kamala Harris is just another of the lying Washington DC types who reside on both sides of the aisle. I have long been a Hickelooper supporter, but I will that he would run for the Senate where he has a reasonable chance of winning, vis a vis the Presidency.
FP - second, societies generally collapse because of the corruption of the leadership. We have lots of socialistic programs in the country, some of which have worked well. Others don't because of corruption. Venezuela is not a victim of socialism per se, but rather a victim of exceedingly corrupt leadership. Capitalism can also collapse because of corruption.
FP - third, much of what Fraud said is idiocy. The goal of life is reproduction. I do not see evidence of a death instinct but rather see what has been cleverly summed up by "Everyone wants to go to heaven but no one wants to die to get there." A big majority of folks are willing to do most anything to prolong their lives even when there is huge monetary expense with little to no benefit. A small minority may have a death wish, but it is usually mental or cultural, not political or religious, or evolutionary. I note that the writers of the Bible were very clever in promising paradise but then making strict taboos on suicide. The idiots who wrote the Koran made dying for Allah a great sacrifice with great rewards, and we can see where that got us.
Took your advice, Douglas E, to assess the damage done by Trump and came up empty-handed. Agree on corruption ruining societies, or preventing them from flourishing.
Maybe you can help me out here, Douglas E. How does the unfathomable hate the Democrats feel for those who aren't like them translate into evolutionary selective advantage? I know you can say that when the Trumpsters are dead and gone, life will be wonderful for those left, but wherever the liberals have their way, things deteriorate fast. Venezuela is without electricity and living in the Stone Age. Does a primitive, caveman lifestyle promote selective advantage?
I can answer that one for you Just Askin'. Liberalism is a suicidal ideology with no selective advantage. Since liberals are atheists and Freud was an atheist, he knew what he was talking about regarding "death wish." The deep desire of atheists, what atheists long for, is the peace of non-existence, to at long last be at one with the universe. Life for them sucks, no matter where or when or who or how comfortable and well-off they are. I welcome them with open arms to their new home of "nothingness." Mwaaa-ha-ha-ha-ha...
Faults - apparently you did not look beyond Fox News! You seem to fit Trump's proclamation that he "loves poorly educated people." The list is long, but i) build the wall and Mexico will pay. The latter part of that statement is simply ludicrous, and Trump and the Republicans had two years to get the budget for new construction; epic fail. Trump has not produced a foot of new wall, with all construction being done with prior appropriations. ii) trade deficits; Trump has no practical understanding of the US economy and was big on proclaiming that trade deficits were the sign of a weak US; "trade wars are easily won" said the Trumpster, and it's clear that he is losing that war while guiding the trade deficit to record highs. iii) "the biggest tax cut in history" - just one of his over 5000 lies and mis-statements durnig the past two years. There have been bigger tax cuts, and notably the benefited the middle class as opposed to Trump's which the upper echelon received by far the greatest benefits; iv) repeal and replace the ACA - the Republicans blustered for years about this and then when they had the power to do something, nada, zip, zilch except for a couple of minor tweeks; v) this could go on, but I'll end with a favorite - "drain the swamp" and interestingly Trump has had some success here - some of his allies and advisers are going to jail!!
Just Askin' - most of the extreme hate is demonstrated on the Trump side; the mass shootings and hate crimes are predominantly carried out by bigoted, conservative, Christian white guys. Yes, Venezuela is a big mess, but again because of corruption not the social system. Why don't you consider all of the current socialistic successes, like some of the European countries that have better health care, better education, better wealth distribution, longer life spans, higher happiness indices, and so on?
Lou - you should stick to your day job and give up trying to speak for the real Lucifer; those who claim to speak for the gods are most presumptuous. And equating liberalism with atheism is just plain stupid. Many of the most active liberals are devout Christians, but of course the right-wing Christians will always claim that they are not "real" Christians.
For some inexplicable reason, I'm drawn to the comments on this blog
Agree that Trump ran into strong resistance from his own party, headed by the lying, pus-sac weasel, Paul Ryan, part of the deep state establishment who could give a crap less about the country. He, along with his sub-human cohorts like Mitch McConnell, repeatedly stabbed Trump in the back on the wall and repeal of Obamacare. Am not sure who all those rats are fellating, but it sure isn't anyone who is a Christian believer or lover of sanity.
Stu - I appreciate your work. Hemmy
LMAO! Hemmy, I think you and I are going to get along just fine!
On of my favorite Bible verses is Ecclesiastes 12:12 “But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body.” If the word “books” is changed to “blog comments,” it makes more sense.
Some truth there - but also, talk is cheap but words are meaningful :-)
E. Maestro, I think what the author is getting at is that excessive time spent reading books or blog comments is not good for the body. In other words, it is not healthy to spend all your time on the computer. Get up and stretch, walk the dog, exercise and take your mind off the mental stuff.
Douglas E, re: European socialism. Do not know what European “socialistic successes” you are referring to. Do not think true socialism exists, in the sense of government ownership or total control of all production resources, but they are socialistic in the sense of having a strong welfare state where they take half your income to provide “free stuff.” That might work in mostly dinky, heterogeneous, civilized populations with a common ideology, but those nations are weak, ineffectual, incapable of defending themselves, and unwilling to fulfill their financial obligations to NATO. In short, they are parasites and sponges
Oops! Should have used the word "homogeneous" rather than "heterogeneous" in the comment above.
Rick - that's what I thought you meant. Agree that there is no completely socialistic or completely capitalistic societies. Capitalistic USA has major socialistic components and programs and likewise socialistic Denmark has a major capitalistic component. Look at Denmark on most any measure of individual satisfaction and it will always outperform the USA.
USA Today ranked Finland as happiest country, followed by Denmark and Norway as numbers two and three. The USA is 19, down about four or five places since 2017 (from when Trump took office? Lol!). I did not delve into the details of what constitutes happiness, however.
Interesting - more data can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Happiness_Report
Thanks for the link, Douglas E. Today, the countries from whence our ancestors emanated are higher on the happiness scale than the USA. Those countries were apparently not so happy with our ancestors’ religious beliefs and forced them to flee. It, seemingly, made those populations “more happy” to not have Mennonites and Amish around, though there are still some Mennonites in Europe, don't think there are any Amish left.
Good one BB. Made me chuckle!
Those amazing Mennonite farmers. From an article in historydaily.org: “Around 1535, an ex-Catholic priest named Menno Simons became a leader of what was known as the Swiss Brethren church and stood for nonviolence and separation from the world. His followers became known as the Mennonites. Persecution caused them to flee into the mountains where they learned how to farm, and after the Thirty Years' War in Europe had ended in 1648, there was much devastation with very little population left. For that reason, the services of the Mennonites were sought after because of their reputation for being amazing farmers. In exchange for their services, they were promised the freedom to practice their religion. They began settling in the area called the Palatine as well as in the Alsace region of France.”
It reminds of those "amazing Amish farmers." If a SHTF event, like a months long electric grid breakdown occurs, it will still be business as usual for the Amish.
Good info BB - thanks.
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