"A
nation which has forgotten the quality of courage which in the past has been
brought to public life is not as likely to insist upon or regard that quality
in its chosen leaders today - and in fact we have forgotten."
John F. Kennedy
Late last week the New York City Board of Health passed a ban,
pushed by Mayor Bloomberg, on the sale of large sodas and other sugary drinks at
restaurants, street carts and movie theaters.
Nobody disagrees that the problem of obesity has reached
epidemic proportions in America and that childhood diabetes is becoming a
hugely dangerous and growing problem. I also understand that reducing obesity
will save taxpayers a lot of money and help to reduce healthcare costs and
energy consumption. These are all good things. However, to pass a law to ban the
sale of large sodas is a travesty.
There are two fundamental issues with the Mayor’s decision;
I am insulted because he assumes that we are all morons or idiots, unable to
make personal choices about what is good and bad for us. And yes, it is a
personal choice, even if some of these decisions can affect society as a whole.
This brings me to my second point, the method he has chosen (to achieve the right
outcome – a healthier America) is a slippery slope that starts to involve the
government taking over personal decisions and mandating and legislating what
is good and bad for us. The single greatest cause of obesity is not sugary
drinks; in fact, I would wager that poor eating habits, portion sizes, lack of
exercise and low self-esteem are all major contributors to the problem. So why
should he stop here? Why not restrict the portions that can be served in
restaurants, or even have suggested entrées based on your body weight. Then
let’s make theaters, ballparks and street vendors only carry healthy fruit and
vegetable snacks. And why stop there why don’t we start fining parents whose
children binge eat based on low self-esteem. Heck I have longed believe that
many people today are not fit to be parents, so let’s start to issue parenting
licenses that require prospective parents to pass a series of tests, just like we
make them when they want to get behind the wheel of a car. After all, our
politicians and government know what is best for all of us and only ever look
out for our best interests. Of course, I exaggerate to make my point, but you can
see how this path is a slippery slope that can lead to Saudi Arabia-esque society
and not the America with the freedoms we now know.
The Mayor is right that we need to tackle this major health
crisis and he is also right that cutting down on the amount of soda and sugary
drinks people consume will help, BUT we need to achieve the same objective
through education and by helping people to make better decisions about their
health and their lives. Bloomberg himself also argues that the proliferation of
marketing and advertising messages, particularly aimed at the poor and less
educated make a certain segment of our population vulnerable to these messages.
So let’s start by fixing the problem with a counter campaign that informs and
teaches people about the long-term and serious affects these things have on our
bodies, our lives and how they also affect the people around us and society as
a whole. Let’s pass laws that make it mandatory for all fast food joints and
other eating establishments to clearly show the calories, fat and ingredients
that go into the food we are about to consume. Let’s start a movement using
celebrities and role models to stop endorsing products that are bad for our
kids. Let’s pass legislation that forces schools to have recess time
again, and completely take corporations out of the
school lunch rooms, so they can no longer dictate the menu based on their bottom
lines.
The reality is that leaders today don’t have the courage,
integrity or fortitude to solve the big problems that we are facing. This would mean taking on trade unions, school boards,
celebrity donors and the same corporations that finance their re-election
bids and fill their campaign coffers; not to mention the fact that their
popularity numbers among voters would also plummet if they were to force them
to face some of the cold hard truths. So instead they focus on the small, less
relevant things or make up problems that simply divert our attention from the
real issue. To make us believe that they have made some progress but it is
really just a sleight of hand and solves nothing. Rather than take on the real
and tough issues, Mayor Bloomberg, like every other politician, took the easy
way out by making it more difficult for us to buy a 32 oz. drink.
