How to Make Sure You & Your Family's Lives Are Unhealthy, Unhappy, Poor, and Short

How about we begin with some interesting graphs about the state of the country. See that block of red that I've outlined--it keeps showing up in map after map.

The above map is of states with anti-inter-racial marriage laws, color-coded by when those laws were repealed by the state or nullified by the Supreme Court's ruling in 1967. 

Grey=no anti-miscegenation laws passed. 

Green=laws repealed before 1887. 

Yellow=laws repealed between 1948 and 1967. 

Red=laws overturned by the Supreme Court's ruling in Loving v. Virginia in 1967. 

(For a more detailed history, begin with the article, then follow some of the links for more lengthy discussions.)

Below is a map of how states have addressed marriage equality:

How proud the citizens of these states must be: Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida. From banning interracial marriage to banning same-sex marriage, what an interesting history these states have. (Side note: my mom always told me, if I couldn’t find anything nice to say about something, call it interesting.) In fact, maps can be so telling in so many ways. Let’s look at some other studies and see where these states stand. 

Poorest States in the USA as of 2009: (from the NY Times Economix blog following a census report)

How about Income Inequality (using data from the 2000 census): (from the Visualizing Economics website)

Teenage Pregnancy Rates: (from The Society Pages referencing a CDC Report)

Life Expectancy: (looked at a ton of interactive maps, a good one is here, but found a static image on Wikipedia)--the lighter the green the fewer number of years on average you live.

Minimum Wage Laws: (from the US Dept of Labor Statistics)

Lest I look up maps forever on economic, social and cultural conditions, I think I'll stop here. Last I checked that block of states, from Texas to Florida, were being run by Republicans and have been for quite some time now. The way the Republicans talk about how marvelous their plans for America are, you would think that Southern block would have the best stats on these and other scales. But sadly, they do not. They are at or near the bottom on almost each of these maps. Sure there are other states in the country that have similarly low numbers. But, consistency, thy name is this southern block.

But, just for good measure, just in case you think that at least these folks have their happiness,  here's one more map drawn from the Gallup & Healthways Well-Being Index -- State of Well-Being 2011 report.