What are we to make of the rising mortality rate of U.S. white lower class?

According to this NY Times article, there has been an alarming rise in the mortality rate of uneducated white Americans, and the cause is largely self-inflicted – suicides and drug use. Can this be attributed in part to the decline in high paying blue collar jobs? At one time an uneducated person could make a decent living by riveting bolts on an assembly line. Now these people are more likely to be flipping burgers. Are these the people that keep electing Republicans in order to retain some shred of dignity by discriminating against minorities? Are they going to eventually die out?