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Lets look at "Greed" Which was defined for this study as "was calculated by comparing average incomes with the total number of inhabitants living beneath the poverty line."
The data used us a good set of data to compare many "Rich" live in the same area as the "poor". In areas where the Middle Class Dominates, this ratio tend to be lower then in areas where there the Middle Class is so low it can NOT bring that ratio down (I.e. low taxes on the Rich to be used to help the poor move to the middle class would be "Greed" for it is the product of people preferring money for themselves, rather then helping their fellow man, the key to greed).
"Envy was calculated using the total number of thefts — robbery, burglary, larceny and stolen cars." Envy (And we are taking in terms of its bad side NOT the desire to buy something like what your neighbor have) leads to theft, and thus why theft was used.
"Wrath was calculated by comparing the total number of violent crimes — murder, assault and rape...", thus wrath is product of violence, as are the crimes used to measure "Wrath".
"Lust was calculated by compiling the number of sexually transmitted diseases — HIV, AIDS, syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhea ..." In the classic sense used in the Seven Sins, Sex is NOT a "Deadly Sin", it is something nature, made by God and therefore good. "Lust" is the corruption of Sex (and all sin is the corruption of something good), in the form of having sex outside of Marriage (And by Marriage I used the Traditional Common Law Rule which is any long term relationship between two people of the opposite sex, but you could include Gay couples that stay together). Looking at a person and noting that that person is good looking is NOT lust, lust is taking the idea that the other person is someone you would like to have sex with to the actual sexual act with that person. Such sex is the prime reason VD survives, if ALL people (And I now that is impossible but I am assuming it for this discussion) only had sex with their spouse, the transmission of VD would die out within a year AND all VD would disappear with 100 years as this generation dies off. VD will NOT die out till people start acting in that way, but we have a long way to go but the first step is to realized the harm caused by "lust" AND that can only be done by defining "lust" to something more then noting someone is good looking from a sexual point of view (side-note, Lesbians have a lower rate of Transmissions of VD then Heterosexual couples do to the fact most Lesbians tend to pair up and only have sex with their "partner", Homosexual makes tend to have sex with numerous partners and thus have the highest VD transmission rates, heterosexuals are between these two Extremes, but it show the fact that the less sexual partners you have the less chance of getting any form of VD, and thus Lust (Defined as sex outside a pair bond) is directly connected to "Lust".
"Gluttony was calculated by counting the number of fast food restaurants per capital....", This is the weakest of the connections, but most fast food provide high fat content food compare to what you can prepare at home, and thus a connection, greater input, greater fat, thus the connection between Gluttony and fast foods.
"Sloth was calculated by comparing expenditures on arts, entertainment and recreation with the rate of employment...", sloth is measured as laziness and when people prefer to spend their money on things other then "arts, entertainment and recreation" that shows laziness. A weak comparison but as good as you can get for "Sloth".
And pride, lastly, is most important. The root of all sins, in this study, is the aggregate of all data. When one take pride in NOT accomplishment ly anything in the Arts, Entertainment and recreation of the people themselves (As opposed to the local Sports teams), if one take pride in going to the local McDonald instead of a healthier place to live, if one take pride in the number of sexual partners one have had, instead of how your family is doing, If one takes pride in Violence one can cause instead of working with others, If one takes anything one wants, without doing something (Other then Stealing) to obtain it, and if one take pride in one's ability to buy more then his neighbors instead of helping those neighbors, then that is the sin of pride and the product of all of the other deadly sins.
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