I really appreciate your extensive research in this piece and I also am intrigued by your theory that Iowans have been trained to not worry about their health. It's touching on something i have been turning over in my mind a lot lately. When people have serious health issues in Iowa, the response is, of course, sadness. But I also also often hear a sense of helplessness. I think about that a lot, and I wonder why. I'm not sure if it's trained, as you say. or a lack of information about lifestyle and environment, or maybe a deeply ingrained culture — as in, this is how everyone else around me is living their life and this is how my parents lived theirs, and this is what we need to do to earn our livings, so it's normal. And then when a bad diagnosis hits, it just feels to them like they were horribly unlucky vs they could change a habit or two to lower their odds or fight for environmental justice to lower everyone's odds of having to deal with that. I hope this feels respectful, because that's my intention. I would love to hear other people's thoughts on this.
I really appreciate your extensive research in this piece and I also am intrigued by your theory that Iowans have been trained to not worry about their health. It's touching on something i have been turning over in my mind a lot lately. When people have serious health issues in Iowa, the response is, of course, sadness. But I also also often hear a sense of helplessness. I think about that a lot, and I wonder why. I'm not sure if it's trained, as you say. or a lack of information about lifestyle and environment, or maybe a deeply ingrained culture — as in, this is how everyone else around me is living their life and this is how my parents lived theirs, and this is what we need to do to earn our livings, so it's normal. And then when a bad diagnosis hits, it just feels to them like they were horribly unlucky vs they could change a habit or two to lower their odds or fight for environmental justice to lower everyone's odds of having to deal with that. I hope this feels respectful, because that's my intention. I would love to hear other people's thoughts on this.