Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Of course, you’ve probably heard that New York City is moving to limit the size of sodas and other sugary drinks that can be served in places like convenience stores or movie theaters. It’s because New Yorkers, apparently, are way too heavy.
A few weeks ago, a town in Massachusetts moved to ban school bake sales. And a school in North Carolina made a child buy a school lunch because her sack lunch wasn’t “healthy” enough. Because our school children are getting too tubby.
And now another town in Massachusetts is moving to ban all soda from being sold in restaurants. No more Mountain Dew with your Taco Bell.
It sounds ridiculous. They’ll drag us kicking and screaming to these extremes. But America, you are asking for it. This is exactly what you want. Don’t try to deny it.
Here’s why Americans actually want to be told what to eat.
Most Americans who oppose government meddling in things like this say something to the effect of:
“Individuals can make decisions for themselves better than the government. That’s what America is all about!”
Well, let’s face it. It’s just not true in modern America. Maybe when the pioneer spirit still coursed in our blood. But not anymore. Americans, it seems, make terrible choices for themselves. We don’t care that a breakfast at Burger King contains over 1,000 calories. People have always been attracted to things that are bad for them. (So don’t believe that just because people want something, it must be in their best interests.) If 32 ounce sodas are banned, it just means you’ll start to see people walking down the sidewalk, double-fisting 16 ounce sodas.
If our government makes bad choices, let’s just remember: our government reflects the people.
The reason people don’t care about what’s in a McRib, or cigarettes, or alcohol, or any of the other things that kill us, is because we love them. They are our friends and lovers. They make us feel good when we are depressed. They never say “no,” or “I have a headache” or “You need to take a shower.”
Most people don’t actually want to do the work of being healthy. Being healthy is hard work. We’d rather pop a pill that will keep us alive, so that we can keep making bad decisions. Rather than doing the work of being spiritually healthy, we’d rather recite a magic prayer that will set everything right. Rather than keeping ourselves mentally healthy, we’d rather chant some positive thinking mantra from a pop-culture science hack.
We always take the shortcut to immediate happiness and gratification. And then we always try to take the shortcut to solving the problem we made for ourselves.
I personally find the idea of limiting soda sizes and banning bake sales to be completely asinine and reprehensible. Like the government knows what’s healthy. Have you looked at the government’s guidelines for daily eating? It’s impossible for a person my size to actually eat all those portions of every food group every day! One more way to fight the man.
I think to myself, “Is this what you want, America? You want the government to act like your Mom, telling you to eat your veggies, and changing your diaper?”
And then I heard, in ever so small a voice, the spirit of the American people answering, “Yeah.”
It’s like we’ve just given up on ourselves.
Believe me, this is just the beginning of the tidal wave. If the healthcare law stays in effect, it will be a blank check for governments to make all kinds of new rules about how you can and can not kill yourself. Remember when you were living at home as a kid, and you had to ask Mom and Dad for money? The fact that they paid for everything gave them all of the control.
We resented the power our parents had over us. But we don’t care now. Because we don’t want to pay anything into our healthcare, or pensions, or anything else. We think we’re entitled to it all. Entitlement has a cost. If you are entitled to a long, healthy life, someone’s going to have to force you to take your medicine.
What do you think about the food rules? Have Americans proven they can’t handle making their own decisions? Is this the only way to get us on track to being healthy and competitive again?
