HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PAT

When I was born in 1940, my life expectancy was supposed to be 60.8.  Thus, I should have died in 2001.  I just celebrated my 84th birthday.  

There are several organizations that provide an annual announcement of life expectancy for countries of the world.  Here is one from the United Nations. 

• Only includes countries with populations over 50,000.  Thus, Monaco at 86.37 years and San Marino at 85.71 years did not qualify.
• Depending on the country, women generally live around 5 to 6 years longer than men.  Ukraine is an outlier, as because of the war, women have a life expectancy of 80.20, while men are at 66.9.
• For the World, the life expectancy at birth is 73.17, 70.55 for men and 75.89 for women.
• Note that these numbers refer to how long a newborn baby will live.
• Life expectancy  (m for men and w for women).  The fourth number surprises me.  This is the life expectancy of person at the age of 80.  Thus, looks like I'll live to the age of nearly 94.
• #1      Hong Kong  85.51  82.84m  88.13w  11.45
• #2      Japan  84.71  81.69m  87.74w  10.95
• #3      S. Korea  84.33  81.19m 87.16w  10.45
• #4      French Polynesia  84.07  81.78m  86.50w  10.23
• #6      Switzerland  83.95  82.01m  85.83w  9.97.
• #7      Australia  83.92  82.10m  85.74w  10.00
• #8      Singapore  83.74  81.24m  86.24w  10.74
• #9      Italy  83.72  81.57  85.75  9.77
• #55    USA  79.30  76.86m  81.85w  9.61
• #65    China  77.95  75.52m  80.93w  7.52
• #114  N. Korea  73.64  70.53m  75.75w  6.63
•           World  73.17  70.55m  75.89w  8.31
• #131  India  72.00  70.52m  73.60w  7.53
• #210  Nigeria  54.46  54.18m  54.74w  5.23

Japan long held the #1 position for life expectancy.  Since 2010, Hong Kong took over the leadership.  Why?

•  The following compares Hong Kong with the USA and UK.  

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  The explanation is broad, but Hong Kong has more favorable social indicators and a high GINI Coefficient, even though it spends less than a third of the U.S. in social spending.  Also, HK healthcare expenses are less than a third of the U.S., but this has more to do with the bloated medical expenses in the U.S.  Note that the homicide and incarceration rates are much higher in the U.S.
• In general, longevity is low in Africa and the Middle East, but higher in Asiatic and Oceanic nations.
• We lead the world economy, but defects in our society negatively affects our life.  The combination of gun control, smarter spending on social programs and the general philosophy of the Democratic Party makes sense as the solution to raise the life expectancy of the USA.  #55 is an embarrassment.

In any case, I had a great couple of days this week to celebrate my 84th birthday.  Our Thursday night dinner table features a birthday cake for two of us.  Bob and I are both Dragons.  He is 12 years older, so our combined age is 180.

After dinner we were taken by our association van to the Arcadia Follies, written and directed by Jack Cione.

Walked around, and saw an aquarium.

The cast having a pep talk before dressing.

Then on to the Follies.

Yvonne Toma has been co-director for 13 years now, and is dancing the hula.

On Friday, my birthday, went to Long's to get the latest COVID vaccine.

In a few days, I get shot again for flu at 15 Craigside.

For lunch, went to Teishoku for pork tonkatsu and sashimi with beer and hot sake.

Then later at night enjoyed a Sparkling Shiraz, with pork and duck.

Later this month, 15 Craigside will have a Surf and Turf dinner.

Yes, I really celebrated my birthday.

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