Saturday 5 October 2013

'United States of shame' map


I found this map of the United States interesting as it highlights the overall bad aspects for each state when usually America is depicted as a place that we admire and is considered a proud nation and following the 'American dream'. The map somewhat exemplifies the fact that in some ways America is not something to be proud of as a nation due to the shameful labels given to each state, showing that each state has one major flaw in particular. In a way this could show that America is not progressing forward together as a nation.
For example, the map shows that Texas most shameful element is 'High school Graduation' and it has been shown that Texas has the lowest high school graduation of 78.3%, contrasting with Minnesota which has the highest (92.%) This could be due to the Texas education system, and other factors such as the fact that Texas has one of the less educated immigrant populations. 


Other examples of statistics illustrated on the map show that:
Alaska: highest suicide rate (22.1% per 100,000)
(This could evidently be due to the cold weather conditions which has been correlated with depression - (SAD) and the isolated villages which may be the reason teenage suicide in Alaska is three times the national average.
Mississippi: Highest rate of obesity  (35.3%) This may be due to the increased poverty, southern diet and cheap fast food industries.
Michigan:  'Unemployment' Highest unemployment rate (13.6%)
Colorado:  'Cocaine Use' Highest rate of cocaine use (2003 National survey on Drug use and health states that in one year the total of cocaine users was 144,000)
Iowa: 'Oldest State' Highest rate of people aged 85 and older (1.8%)

Sources
More stats found at http://www.pleated-jeans.com/2011/01/24/the-united-states-of-shame-chart/
Calculate stats http://www.statemaster.com/index.php
Colorado drug use http://www.usnodrugs.com/statistics.htm?state=Colorado&cat=cocaine
Mississippi obesity http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/story/2012-08-13/obesity-rates-states/57031440/1

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