Compare/contrast American Presidential elections

[pbrower2a]

(01-13-2019, 12:30 PM)David Horn Wrote:

(01-12-2019, 12:48 AM)Classic-Xer Wrote:

(10-02-2017, 12:57 PM)pbrower2a Wrote: Here's a map of the top 15 most obese states (over 27.7% of the population) -- in red.




Yikes! Except for Michigan, those states usually vote Republican in Presidential elections (and 2020 is unlikely to change that assessment). 

Aside from Michigan, only one of those fifteen states (Indiana, in its flukish vote for Obama in 2008) has ever voted for the Democratic nominee for President since 1996.

I wonder how many of the obese in those states are Democratic voters?

Why is that even a question?  Obesity may have a higher correlation with one party than the other, but, if so, the correlation is more likely to be with the GOP.

Probably this relates to some states having more severe poverty than others -- and being less effective in doing anything about it. These are not the best states in America in which to live. Michigan shocks me, as I live there. It is still not a great place to live. There are nice parts, but much of it is rotten.

Obesity and poverty connect in part because severe obesity makes one less likely to hold a job. But why do people get obese? Because they indulge excessively in wonderful food? Not likely. People are not getting grotesquely obese on pâté de foie gras and lobster; they are getting fat on candy, pastries, pie, cake, donuts, chips, sugary sodas, and mass-market beer -- mostly bad stuff. I had a cousin who died at age 48 of a heart attack related to obesity; family members told me that he typically went to a fast-food place and asked to super-size the meal and double it. This fellow had a recipe for macaroni and cheese; it says "add sugar". He got up to nearly 500 pounds.

One way to look for fattening food is to look for the label 'comfort food', typically processed food high in fat and carbohydrates, especially in 'generous' portions. Or something convenient and quickly satisfying, like some single-serving of pie. So it might tide me over until dinner that might be delayed? Of course -- with 400 calories.

But that is the consumption of calories. The other side is their disposal. At some point one is unable to walk. Extreme obesity is a literal handicap. They usually end up huffing and puffing after even mild exertion. You see these people riding carts in grocery stores. (Sure, I have, but I then had a gout attack, and if you know what gou8t is like, you would understand) or when I drove such a cart back for someone. 

I'm trying to figure what they do for entertainment. Television, I guess. Did you expect them to play chess or bridge? Do they seem to suggest that they read books? I can think of places where I never see them -- museums of any kind, whether of science, machinery (cars or aircraft), science, history, or art. It's not that one can't deal with such places if one is overweight; it is that one needs a curious mind to appreciate what is available there.

It is worth remembering that even box stores that are not really grocery stores by any stretch of the imagination typically have candy, packaged donuts, and trashy magazines available as impulse purchases. One must ask the clerk for cigarettes to get them, but those are in plain sight. If you think, you avoid them. If you do not think, you grab them (or ask the clerk for cancerettes).

Getting obese is easy. One simply must avoid thinking. That cousin, from what I heard, never read a book after he ended his high-school education. He didn't say that he dropped out, but I would not be surprised if he did.