Are we a nation OK with shrugging off unnecessary deaths?

The news is normally depressing, particularly for a Rockies fan or just a fan of democracy and reason. But sometimes a news story seems to be worse than usual, and that story today was the report that the average life expectancy for Americans dropped three years in 2021 (from 79 to 76). I know averages are not "typical," but this is bad news in every way.

A society that is OK with excess and premature deaths, arguing that poor health, lack of medical care, economic hardships, etc. are part of being a "free" nation is a nation in trouble.

The pandemic accounts for some percentage of the drop in life expectancy but the average was pulled down more by young deaths among drug users. After all, a large number of Covid deaths have occurred among the elderly, so we can guess that their somewhat premature deaths could not produce a dramatic drop in the average. But a 30-year-old dying from a fentanyl overdose can sharply affect an average.

There are likely many factors that account for the one-year drop and scientists will be spending some time trying to decipher exactly happened. But we have to suspect that, as a nation, we just don't care all that much, particularly about our "neighbors."

I read today that the percentage of Americans who have received the virus vaccine drops with each dose and booster. The announcement of a revised vaccine that targets the most common current variant may be available in just a few days, but officials already worry that most people will just skip the latest booster.

After all, the pandemic is over, or that's the narrative many tell themselves.

For most of us, life is back to normal or as normal as possible. I still wear a mask on a plane, for instance, though it is not mandatory and I am among a small percentage of mask wearers. I have no idea how helpful wearing a mask on a plane, with someone next to me unmasked, actually is, but there is something to be said for simply avoiding weird odors in cramped conditions.

I did a rough calculation about our grandchildren's 529 accounts, finding that the totals have dropped about 17 percent since Dec. 31 of 2021. That is discouraging but my expectation is that the markets will rise again, at some point. I haven't LOST money so much as I have experienced a paper loss only.

More deaths than are expected normally amounts to real loss, however, and life expectancy may not be precise but it definitely indicates trends.

We are not a healthy country, physically or psychically. 

But a native Alaskan Democratic woman somehow beat Angry White People Party candidate Sarah Palin yesterday in a special election, and many in Palin's party have gone strangely quiet about Trump's stealing documents and trying to interfere with investigations.

Over 40,000 Americans are hospitalized with Covid but far fewer are now dying.

Hope is not yet on life support.