18 March 2022 - Living a principled life

Living in the FATG states (Florida, Arizona, Texas, Georgia) may be hazardous to your health. As discussed recently in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association, the policies of each State influence life expectancy for its residents, see https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2790238. States that enacted public health policies for the COVID-19 pandemic based on the best scientific understanding had lower numbers of excess deaths from all causes, including COVID-19. In contrast, those living in states that resisted vaccinations and mask mandates had higher death rates. Health disparities are growing based on the blue-red divide, see also https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/03/17/living-in-red-states-can-be-life-threatening/. 

All of us should try to live a principled life, to make decisions, as we can, based on our political values. For this reason, I have tried to limit my visits to FATG states. This began in Florida several years ago when the Governor and State legislature essentially overturned a statewide vote allowing ex-felons to vote, see https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/17/us/florida-felons-voting.html. Although I previously had spent up to 30 days each winter in Florida to get away from the Michigan cold, I stopped this travel. Since then, Florida's government has become increasingly fascist, with laws to establish an election Gestapo, punish gays and restrict academic freedom, see https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/03/09/florida-lawmakers-approve-an-elections-police-force-first-its-kind-us/, https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/florida-house-passes-dont-say-gay-bill-rcna17532, https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/01/21/university-florida-lawsuit-academic-freedom/.

All of us have to live our own lives and make our own decisions. Each day, I try to decide what I can do, within the parameters of my circumstances, to live my values.