The Safety Series
- Article 1 -
Natural vs Unnatural Death

Over 1 million people have died this year due to the Coronavirus pandemic, which has in turn led me to re-think the structure of CiviliansNews.com entirely.

But first and foremost… what is the central purpose of, “the news,” in general? Because for me reporting the news has always been primarily inspired by the topic's of affordable housing and suicide prevention, thus far. Nevertheless, today I wonder, “what are the broader concerns of the people in terms of the daily news?” And should the focus of our, “daily news cycle,” be based upon public safety or public opinion? And where do we draw that line?

Which is to say… “should our society take measures throughout the media to prevent unnatural causes of death?” Or rather, should we as citizens simply leave all matters of safety to the legal system? And why are big businesses so often, “given a pass,” in terms of the media scrutiny surrounding un-natural causes of death? IE Automobile accidents.

Whereby, for my next article in this series, “The Safety Series,” I plan on writing about this next statistic… but did you know that 17-25% of mentally handicapped Americans die of unnatural causes? (Statistical reference link: via Google). Which to me represents an absolutely heartbreaking and staggering statistic that fully illustrates a lack of compassion by the American mainstream media, as well as the American aristocracy which is currently in control of that media.

Nevertheless and furthermore, why is gun violence so often the topic of our daily news cycle and not automobile accidents? Or the alarming number of handicapped people who are dying from unnatural causes? Among other things….

And this is particularly troubling when automobile accidents kill over 1,000 x more people than gun violence, every year… and yet gun violence is all that we ever hear about in the American mainstream media. But how should the media feel about safety hazards ranging from biological disease to mental health? And should our nation’s scrutiny be directed towards disease, Artificial Intelligence… or Donald Trump? Or rather, specifically, what should the news be reporting? And do the American people even care about issues such as immunization, or whether vaccines are curtailing diseases or actually making them stronger? And which public safety concerns are news worthy/relevant?

Whereby, I don’t have all of the answers… but from now on, every 3-4 months I’ve decided to write, “a safety article,” here on CiviliansNews.com. “The Safety Series,” so I’m titling it, I then plan on writing with the intent of outlining miscellaneous safety concerns including but not limited to; police homicide, incarceration, disease, pollution, ocean pollution and air pollution, while simultaneously discussing a plethora of other issues surrounding the topic of public safety/unnatural causes of death and preventative measures.

For example: would it help to know that 20,000 people die in the shower every year? Or that the equivalent of 0.00005% of America’s total population dies while bathing… each year, based on the approximation of 350m total Americans.

(Statistical reference link: this one comes from Google.)

Whereby, statistics just like that… are exactly why I want to focus this new section of CiviliansNews.com on safety.

And that is a question which can be very, very complicated… because to be clear, my goal is NOT to create unnecessary regulation… or to incite unnecessary preventative measures like say, “age restrictions,” but instead my goal is to simply bring awareness to various unnatural causes of death. For example, in a future article I might write about automobile Physic’s and how I am well aware that a 2500 lb automobile needs 30-60 feet, minimum, in order to come to a complete stop. Yet, how many drivers today even know the weight of their own car or the friction on their own tires? And furthermore, what percentage of drivers today even calculate the amount of time that is needed to stop, at any given speed? (Which will also become the topic of an entire article later on, as well.)

And for the record, all jokes aside… I’ve always approached driving like, “if something that could kill you, literally instantaneously… was 12 feet away from you in any other setting… then where would your attention be?”

Stopping distance depends upon; tire friction, the weight of the car and speed, but it never ceases to amaze me when people drive mini-vans and trucks like they’re sedans.

Well that’s difficult to say… however, at this time America boasts a 3.5%, “unnatural death rate,” according to NIH.GOV… meaning that roughly 8 / 1,000 Americans who die each year, die from unnatural causes. (Statistical reference link: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). Whereby, out of 2.7m to 2.8m average total registered deaths / per year, roughly 180k of those deaths… are considered as, “unnatural deaths,” or caused by an injury/unnatural cause, within America today. (Statistical reference link: cdc.gov).

Which to me, still feels high…

Nevertheless, people in America today are in fact much safer than they were in centuries past… and while mortality data fluctuates from decade to decade from 1930 to 2020… there is a clear distinction between the mortality rates of today vs the rates of prior centuries. Whereby, according to CDC.gov overall mortality has declined by 54%… from 1900 to 2010, in America alone. This statistic further represents a death rate that went from an average mortality of 1,719/100k deaths per year to approximately 798/100k deaths per year, from 1900 to 2010. And that statistic really symbolizes advances in modern medicine and the extended life expectancy that has simultaneously occurred as a result of increased public health in America, over that time.

Regardless, while that data shows a clear distinction from century to century, the overall rate of death in America has fluctuated almost year to year, for much of the past 20th and 21st centuries. Furthermore, during the past 120 years… auto fatalities have fluctuated up and down, from decade to decade. Regardless, over that time there has been only a brief emphasis placed on auto safety in the mainstream media, mostly in the 1980’s, over air bags. Which is troubling because of the 180k unnatural deaths per year, 36,560 registered deaths in 2018, were from auto accidents, almost 20% of all unnatural deaths. Yet, fatalities from automobile accidents grew from 1930 to 1940 and then peaked again in the 1950’s, only to start climbing again during the 1970’s, with no real trends towards ever fixing the problem. (I.E. Auto fatality statistics).

So while it remains true that we are, “safer and healthier as a country than ever before,” it also remains true that America’s total number of fatalities / per year, has risen for much of the past 100 years. Furthermore, during that time deaths from unnatural causes have fluctuated up and down, where now these issues seemingly deserve more media attention, in my opinion.

(*There have been more total deaths due to a larger population, in recent decades. Where to be clear… this data shows a declining mortality rate throughout the 1900’s… but also more deaths overall, in modern decades. Which is only half good… because ideally you would want less deaths overall AND a lesser mortality rate, as history progressed, not just a lesser mortality rate. Although… almost 65% of those unnatural deaths are caused by heart failure and auto fatalities, so this wouldn’t be too hard of a problem to fix, either.)

Yet, while these rates of mortality in America… have fluctuated from decade to decade, it seems that only mild scrutiny of automobile manufacturers…. specifically…. has alleviated these fatalities, over that time. Furthermore, most journalists don’t even approach this topic because of the sensitive nature surrounding the topic of death, yet because of this reluctance by the media… these public safety concerns are now being left entirely to the legal system. (I.E. Auto fatality statistics).

Regardless, how many American citizens ought to die of unnatural causes? I.E. “Survival of the fittest?” And are those 2 million unnatural deaths per year, preventable? And is our government / mainstream media looking the other way for evolutionary reasons? Or are people supposed to die of unnatural causes? And why isn’t the media preventing those deaths, before they occur?

Because by the numbers, as I analyze these mortality statistics… most of the 3.5% of Americans who are going to die of unnatural causes, or 10 million of today’s living American citizens… roughly 6 million of those deaths are slated to occur in future automobile accidents (*statistically speaking). So why aren’t we preventing those 6 million deaths from occurring, before they happen? Because that isn’t a small percentage of people, we are talking about literally almost .5% of America’s total population. (*And do the auto companies not pollute enough as it is? What other company would ever get away with that?)

Nevertheless, in this way… I personally believe that the concept of, “death itself,” has been given substantially more importance in modern times. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that all necessary precautions have been taken, either… even with the advent of; an expanding legal system, modern medicine, safety technology and public media, throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.

Which is my way of saying, “yea… maybe we don’t see construction workers walking on 12 inch steel frames, 200 feet above NYC these days… but that doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone is safer, either.”

Which leads me to the conclusion of today’s article: Awareness.

So in conclusion my aim for this new series, “The Safety Series,” is to inform the public, without causing undue stress… about everyday safety concerns, prime…arily at the grass roots level. But to conclude today’s article, I want to leave people with the top 10, most common causes of unnatural death, in America today.

(*Statistical Reference Link: CDC.gov).

*WOW… and according to these statistics… 17-25% of the mentally handicapped people in America today, will die of unnatural causes, which to me is morally wrong. In fact, my next article in this series will be on that very topic. So article 2 of this series will be on the mentally handicapped and unnatural causes of death.

(Statistical reference link: according to Google).

(Statistical reference link: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm).

PS: I always tell my family, “stay out of a car accident and we have a good chance to see Mars,” and I honestly wish that more people thought that way.

-William Larsen, Civilians News.