It seems worth mentioning that for all of the advances we have made in medical science, and all of the reduction we have seen in violent crime, for perhaps the first time in history we are actually seeing lifespans in the United States actually <i>decrease</i> for certain demographics. The life expectancy for uneducated white Americans today is lower than it was in 1990.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/21/us/life-expectancy-for-les...