Let's face it. We can't live our lives responsibly. A good example of freedom run amok is how fat we've all become. Terrible. 'Give me liberty or give me death' use to be a great motto in the times when society used to hunt for squirrels. Now we have McDonalds. Liberty is now so yesterday. Give me government or I'll die of cheeseburger overdose. Liberty shmiberty.
Mary Sanchez, writing in the Hartford Courant, makes a rallying cry for the ever so wise and thoughtful government to turn us into the Adonis/babes we long to be:
To ring in 2011, let's raise a toast in unison to proclaim the most frequently made New Year's resolution. Then promptly break it. Yes, it's the season for the annual American vow to lose weight. But first, let's argue about just how much leverage the government should exert to squeeze us back into our skinny jeans, now that it is well established that two-thirds of adults and one-third of school-age children are overweight or obese.
Right! Let's argue about government control to get us into those skinny jeans. Oh, I'm so a liberal now. She continues:
Nanny state politics run amok, decry the tea party activists. Get Michelle Obama and her gardening frock out of my child's choice of French fries, fried chicken and a cupcake. Unless someone puts a fork in this scheme, the White House will turn us into twig-gnawing vegetarians, with nothing but carrots left in the vending machines. What we stuff into our mouths is our choice — often a bad choice, but ours to make!
Nooooo, don't say that, don't please. Bad choices you said it, we make bad choices, go with that...
Hold on, says the more reasonable side. If the government is subsidizing school meal programs, shouldn't there also be strong nutritional guidelines on exactly what is being dished onto the plastic school lunch tray? I think so.... And given that childhood obesity and the resulting rates of diabetes and other health issues wind up costing taxpayers to treat the uninsured, wouldn't it be fiscally more prudent to nip this nutritional demon when our children are younger and less rotund?
Whew! For a minute there I thought it was all a joke. I'm trying not to be a racist, sexists, for the rich against the poor, polluter, climate criminal for the new year. I don't want to be a junk foodian or be accused of diatism. I need a change. Change me Mary, I need wisdom. But plastic, come on Mary, isn't that being too, I don't know, climatephobe? And what about "rotund"? Isn't that being impolite? That's for the other guys to say, why you said it yourself:
The differing views often come wrapped in rather nasty insinuations about the obese. Although it is often discussed in less than polite terms, correlations exist between obesity and race, class and education.
Like rotund? I know it's hard to control. That used to be me. I used to say things like that, also "why are the poor so freakin fat, geez, what ever happen to TINY Tim, now it's Roast Beef Bobby." or "poor guy eats too many Devil Dogs." Now I see the correlations, Debate is over. You're either with us or you're nasty with bad manners and for big food. Right Mary, how am I doing?
Dear government, please save the children from becoming whales. I hereby relinquish my right as a parent in this regard in order to become a newly responsible liberal. Thank you, signed, conservative-not-anymore-Hartford.
Comments
Heres what will happen, I response to this article JofT will come on and say something like "The critic continues to put out right wing garbage"...." But John is right on with this. The government is in no business to tell us what choices we need to make in our lifestyle. We are a free humans. Get out of our lives!
We are trying to socialize medicine -FOR ALL. We should try to socialize food, housing, clothing, and transportation -FOR ALL!
Geeeeeeez. It's for our own good!
P.S. The divorce rate is really high too. So, let's have the Left and big Go-Ment decide who I should marry!
Big business in our government makes it fatter than anything. They have the power to make a story up so people end up going after the workers and the poor instead of the really wealthy powerful people who have walked away with the bulk of the treasury from special tax breaks and deals that are far from the public eye. So easy to buy into it.. Odd, how the fraudulent money people , the oil people are so conveniently let off the hook for full responsibility
Meryl Meryl Meryl. You're typing on a big business product that you brought at a big business store in which you drove a big business car to get there using big business oil. So forgo all your big business stuff because you have a choice (but you won't), with government we don't, if they want to regulate how we eat and what medicine to take, oh well, that's the way it goes. Well, this is part of saying stop! As for you saying "They have the power to make a story up so people end up going after the workers and the poor..." never happened, period! Then you go on "... instead of the really wealthy powerful people who have walked away with the bulk of the treasury from special tax breaks and deals that are far from the public eye.." Stop hating people who innovate (how do you like your new IPad?) and get grounded in reality. The politics of class hatred and government intervention in our lives is being popularly repudiated in historic fashion.
Hey Meryl when your finished with your next reply go that big business to get your coffee call Starbucks. After you get into your big,mean,and nasty automobile, purchased from one of those mean and nasty automobile companies....LOL!
This is what Ms Sanchez wrote: "Obviously, there is a balance to be struck. If people chose to gorge and not exercise, the government can't and shouldn't seek to stop every decadent morsel."
She did not, as the "critic" wrote: "makes a rallying cry for the ever so wise and thoughtful government to turn us into the Adonis/babes we long to be:"
The "critic" wants to rant and rant he does. He deliberately misreads her article to supply his rant.
For the government to supply facts on proper nutrition sends the "critic" into right wing radical rants. It is the right thing to do given the statistics on obesity.
One more point: If the government is supplying meals to some people those meals should be properly nutritious. What the heck is wrong with that?
Reply to Joft
Ms Sanchez line of reasoning is this: if government is going to pay for something, in this case school lunches, it ought to have a say in its nutritional value. We're suppose to automatically assume that the federal government, just by virtue of its existance, is wise in the affairs of nutrition and living a healthy lifestyle. Fair enough, have in the very least guildlines. I for one do not believe there were no standards to begin with, but that's fine. It is "the children" we're talking about.
However she then uses this rationale not only in government spending on food in schools but on health care costs when she says that obesity and other heatlh issues "wind up costing taxpayers to treat the uninsured..." If government wants to control school lunches it will say what the kids eat, if it wants to control health care costs....
Naturally the "critic" ducks the obvious. He did, in fact, misrepresent Ms Sanchez..
The "critic" says the government is NOT wise in nutrition therefore what?? That's silly. We're all wise, for the most part, in nutrition and when the Government dishes out food it should be nutritious. Is the "critic' saying the government doesn't know anything about nutrition? That's his right wing point of view. That's what makes the article a rant and silly.
JofT i'm saying the Government doesn't know anyrthing about nutrition. The government doesn't know anything. I want them out of my life. Why do you have a problem with that? For those who get Free meals from the government specifically the kids in schools, I wouldn't call hamburgers made with soy nutritional. In fact i would make an argument it is down right disgusting! I'll take a New York Strip Steak 14 ounces, Baked potato, and a Salad. Is that nutitional enough??
There are millions of people who work for the government. City, State, and Federal. According to Tex, they're all ignorant.
All those businesses that supply our wants are safe because government says they'd better be safe. Same goes for food. Tex wants those businesses to do what they want. I think I know who the ignorant are.
I think Ct. Steve makes the best points!
LOL
Hello Texas Pete. Sometimes we NEED the government to control and regulate. Read what the others have said and then think about it. JofT hits the nail right on the head with this one for sure.
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