Banning fat people
You guys are probably sick of me going on and on about the smoking ban and how it treats smokers like second class citizens. Again, before you all yell at me... here's my disclaimer: I am not a smoker. I have never been a smoker. I have no interest in smoking. I think smoking is bad for you so I choose not to smoke.
But see that word there? Choose. I choose not to do it. I have a choice. Just as all smokers should have a choice on where they spend their time and money, and bar owners should have a choice whether they want to allow smokers or not.
I just don't like the idea of government telling us what to do in every single aspect of our lives because I worry about where all that meddling ends. Think I'm worrying for no reason? Guess again. First it's smokers who are banned. Now, obese people are the target.
A state lawmaker in Jackson, Miss., wants to ban restaurants from serving food to fat customers! Chew on that while you're eating your lunch today!
Sure, the lawmaker says he didn't expect his plan to become law. He just wanted to shed light on a problem. But get what the state House Public Health Committee Chairman said about the bill: “It is too oppressive for government to require a restaurant owner to police another human being from their own indiscretions.”
There are more than 60 million Americans who are considered obese, according to studies, and if you think that doesn't affect you, taxpayers foot more than half of obesity-related medical bills. Should we treat my friends who like to over-indulge in epicurean delights like second class citizens, too?
The thing is, we all have flaws. That's not the problem. It is a problem, though, when we start treating a group of people like they're less than human and we start stripping them of their rights because of certain non-illegal "indiscretions."
I don't have a problem with bars banning smoking if they want, but let's give bar owners that choice to do so. That way, as a non-smoker, I have the choice to hang out in a smoking or non-smoking bar and my smoker friends have that right, too.
Oh, and just in case you think I'm unfairly picking on Democrats. The writer of the obesity bill in this Mississippi case is a Republican and the Chairman is a Democrat. So this propensity to meddle can come from both sides.
(Getty Images)
Categories: Complaints, Consumer protection, Healthcare
Comments
Wow, this is really the wrong way to address a health issue. As if overweight people aren't stigmatized enough already in our society. If the lawmaker wasn't "serious" about this becoming a law, why is he/she spending time and taxpayer money on crafting this legislation? There are much better and less discriminatory ways to address this issue, if that's really the intent here.
Although obesity is a health issue, it's an issue that only affects the person "afflicted." Since it doesn't affect the health of others in any way, I don't see why there should be legislation to essentially protect us from ourselves. The quantity of food one consumes is just one factor in the equation; a person's metabolism and genetics (body type) is possibly a more important factor. I also don't know how a business owner could possibly make a judgement call determining who is obese. Sounds like a perfect recipe for a lawsuit or three.
Then again, if it helps ween us off of fast food just a little bit... :-)
DD: I understand obesity doesn't necessarily harm others, but it's a slippery slope, Bob! The reason that "we're doing this to protect you" could be applied to a lot of things.
Posted by: bob | February 5, 2008 2:02 PM
Well hey at least they're trying to ban trans fats! No sense in giving us a choice on that issue, right?
(taken directly from city council agenda 01/28/2008)
08-0034
Food Service Facilities - Trans Fats
FOR the purpose of prohibiting food service facilities from serving, using, storing, distributing, or holding food containing trans fat; defining certain terms; providing certain exceptions; requiring the retention of certain labels or documentation; providing for a special effective date; and generally relating to the prohibition of trans fats in or by a food service facility.
Sponsors:
Agnes Welch, President Rawlings-Blake, Robert W. Curran, James B. Kraft, Edward L. Reisinger, Bill Henry, Helen L. Holton, William H. Cole,
IV, Mary Pat Clarke, Belinda K. Conaway, Warren Branch, Sharon Green
Middleton and Rochelle 'Rikki' Spector
ORDINANCE
PUBLIC SAFETY AND HEALTH COMMITTEE
Posted by: Evan | February 5, 2008 2:33 PM
Ok, their is one and only one way to get fat- consume more calories than you expend. This whole "genetics" and "metabolism" thing is 100% false. I can surgically remove someone's entire thyroid gland (the regulator of your metabolism) and the most weight a person gains is 12 pounds! People are gluttonous, slothful, and consume more than their fair share of food. Obesity, heart disease, and diabetes are epidemics solely caused by our Western lifestyle that allows people to live a completely sedentary lifestyle while having access to an almost unlimited amount of soft drinks, donuts, and fried chicken. Overweight people have less self control over their eating habits than normal weight people and that is the reason they are fat.
Posted by: Pete | February 6, 2008 5:29 AM
I'd stand up and fight back against this, but I'm too fat to move.
That's a tasty looking hamburger, though.
Posted by: Sam Sessa | February 11, 2008 1:24 PM