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The Fresca Rebellion
theodp writes "They can ban the Marlboros, tax the Cokes, and zone the Whoppers, says Slate's William Saletan on the subject of today's morality cops. But it's time to put the brakes on the paternalistic overreaching of the food police, Saletan argues, when they come after his editor's beloved Fresca ('there are concerns that diet beverages may increase calorie consumption by justifying consumption of other caloric foods'), which will have to be pried from his cold, dead hands. '40 states have enacted special taxes on soda or junk food. And the soda taxers are becoming ever bolder. Their latest manifesto is an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, co-authored by the health commissioner of New York City, the surgeon general of Arkansas, and several others. It declares soda fair game for government intervention (PDF) on the grounds that "market failures" in this area are causing "less-than-optimal production and consumption."' Where do we draw the line?"
Diet sodas make your body expect energy. That energy does not arrive. Therefore your body makes you feel hungry to provide for the already ramped up production.
Sugarfree gum and diet soda is therefore something that will never find their way into my hands.
I've heard tons of stories from cyclists in the US detailing how people in vehicles purposely drive as close as possible to them, cut them off, throw things at them etc.
Let me guess, they were cycling at 17mph two-abreast on a 45mph road at sundown without proper reflective gear or flashing lights? American cyclists are predominantly stupid and ignore traffic laws to their own detriment. They are far safer on sidewalks than on the roads.
Hooray! Liberal utopia. Take care of me, I can't handle myself.
You don't make the poor richer by making the rich poorer. - Winston Churchill
You can change jobs and divorce your wife.
What do you do about a power hungry out of control government bent on controlling as many aspects of your life as possible?
Official Heretic from the "Church of Global Warming". Proven right thanks to whistle blowers. AGW = Flat Earth Theory
Since the fruit of your labor, to a very large extent, is due to the wider society, yes you do. Besides, it's a democracy. Your will is not absolute, and providing the Constitution is not defied, you have to accept the will of the majority. Don't like it, move to a Libertarian paradise like Somalia.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
I personally do not feel that Americans pay enough of the cost associated with their choices. Insurance is not the answer, because you can still have a group of people making stupid choices, the consequences of which are paid for other policy holders. If I tell you that, "hey smoking this junk can give you cancer," and you ignore me, and you get cancer, should you then expect me to pay for ANY of it?
Of course friends influence you. But if your friends decide to rob a liquor store, your individual choice is whether or not to participate. Unfortunately, sometimes people will make the wrong choice. It doesn't mean we don't hold them responsible for their choice.
Of course we are influenced by physical cues too. Murder rates go up in the summer. Doesn't mean we say that "the summer made me do it".
Now, overeating is neither robbery nor homicide. And I'm not saying we should go around vilifying people for it (lord knows that most years of my life I've been overweight and sometimes downright fat). But it really is a matter of individual choices, and we should educate people on how they can help themselves, and hold them responsible for the cost of their actions.
If your health insurance premium was a function of whether you're trying to take care of yourself or not, then we'd be holding people responsible without having to make it into a moral crusade. Whereas if you are subsidizing my behavior through health insurance or whatever, then you do have a legitimate interest in my eating habits. That's not the society I want. We should all be free to do what we wish and to bear the responsibility for those choices.