Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Fat, Broke and Stupid?

The economic situation and the obesity problem in the USA are symptoms of the same thing. A mindset of entitlement.

The Declaration of Independence states "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." (emphasis added by me)

The "Pursuit" of something does not guarantee it's achievement or procurement. Or to put it more simply in country terms, you might have the right to go fishing, that doesn't mean you will always catch fish.

Happiness is NOT a God-given, inalienable right. Nor is happiness the same thing as pleasure. Ask an addict.

If you eat from the drive-thru for every meal, do not be surprised when (not if) you are fat.

If you finance this this lifestyle with credit cards, rent to own appliances and huge car payments, then don't be surprised when (again, not if) you are broke.

Declare your own independece.

5 comments:

dr. m.c. said...

Dave,

a lot of research shows that obesity is more strongly tied to social/economic circumstances than any other factor.

Consider obesity in kids: a lot of this has to do with inner city and, ironically, urban poor folks in regions without access to any or fresh vegetables.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1813984-1,00.html

statistically, it is the poor where there are higher rates of obesity than the more affluent.

"The data show quite clearly that lower income families and those living in socially deprived neighbourhoods are far more at risk from becoming obese than the middle and upper classes. A report from the National Statistics office notes:

"Obesity is linked to social class, being more common among those in the routine or semi-routine occupational groups than the managerial and professional groups. The link is stronger among women. In 2001, 30 per cent of women in routine occupations were classified as obese compared with 16 per cent in higher managerial and professional occupations.""

http://www.sirc.org/articles/poverty_and_obesity.shtml

and consider
"Recent research shows that social class measured by income and education can be more powerful than genetics in predicting future health problems, including obesity.

"It's tied more to general economic disparities," Dr. James Hill said when asked about the differences in overweight between African-American and Caucasian women. Hill, one of the country's leading authorities on obesity, pointed to the similarity in
the obesity rate of African-American and Caucasian men."

http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/race_class/othergirlsstuff.html

best
mc

dr. m.c. said...

ps
here's that Time magazine link that got broken off.

mc

Jason Marshall said...

Amen Brutha!!!

P. J. said...

Iron Tamer for President!! although all those broke, fat, stupid wouldn't vote for you because it would require them to take responsibility for their condition in life.

Anonymous said...

Love it. No excuses. Personal Responsibility & Accountability!!!