You weren’t just imagining that snark – there’s been an uproar against Bloomberg’s rational (though paternalistic) policies – against smoking, transfats and now sugars – that likens them to Rockefeller era drug laws. It’s insane. It’s like comparing universal health insurance to mandatory broccoli.
Don’t get me wrong. Overall I think Bloomberg is a power hungry plutocrat hell bent on privatizing public services. But he’s got this right. The war on drugs fought an imaginary enemy, based on inflated claims of risk that demonized addicts and needlessly swelled our prison populations.
But how did we get obese? How did we end up manufacturing containers that could even hold up to a gallon of a corn syrup-based concoction meant for immediate consumption? For starters, by looking the other way when giant multinational corporations that specialize in food products – not foods – took over our movie theatres and our children’s schools.
So let’s step back and say, how do we deal with this? This real, legitimate public health policy concern of a populace plagued by morbid obesity, by unheard of rates of type 2 diabetes in children? Do we say, you can’t have more than sixteen ounces of soda? No. We say, you, peddler of soda, please don’t source your cups from these manufacturers who make colossal vessels unless you’d like to pay a fine. A fine to offset our city’s costs associated with children made ill by too much sugar intake.
We know that the corn industry propagated the “super sized” culture we live in – to find more ways to use up their surpluses. Tell me – where is the harm in allowing our public officials to offset that influence with narrowly tailored, easily implemented regulations designed to temper our natural American tendency to finish what’s in front of us, to clean our plates, to drink long after our thirst is quenched?
Bloomberg’s measures are a gentle nudge in the direction of normalizing our consumption. It’s a way of saying, let’s think about what we consume, and how much of it. Let’s just try having an eight ounce soda at dinner and see how that goes. Maybe we won’t need or crave or mindlessly consume giant portions at other meals, or between them, if we can manage moderation at this one. Not a ban, not a prohibition, not an outlawed substance or activity. Just a reasonably regulated indulgence.
Hm. Seems like that might just be the right way to approach a rational drug policy in this country too. Baby steps.
Glenn Beck and I have a lot in common. We were both raised Catholic, we were both born in February, neither of us has an appendix anymore. That said, there are some serious divergences. I recently read Beck's latest missive to Congress - a list purporting to set forth five "pledges" that, should our elected officials choose not avow, they'd be in breach of their duty to support, protect and defend the Constitution.
Like most Beckian diatribes, The 5 Pledges conflates more than a few unrelated issues, and sneaks in several political booby traps. Let's have a look.
To Congress, The 5 Pledges (Glenn Beck)
1. I believe in a balanced budget and therefore will vote for a freeze in government spending until that goal is realized.
All spending? So, no pens for the Defense Department? No toilet paper at the USDA offices? Or just no new items added to the budget? What if there's say, a hurricane, and FEMA needs some extra dough for sand bags? No? Okay, then.
2. I believe government should not increase the financial burden on its citizenry during a difficult economic times, therefore I will oppose all tax increases until our economy has rebounded.
What if those taxes are used to provide services which would reduce the overall burden on the citizenry of America? How about taxes on corporations whose annual operating budgets are $10 million or more?
3. I believe more than four decades of US dependence on foreign oil is a travesty, therefore I will support an energy plan that calls for immediately increasing usage of all domestic resources including nuclear energy, natural gas and coal as necessary.
According to the DOE, less than half of the oil consumed by the US comes from the Persian Gulf (16%) or Africa (21%). That doesn't quite sound dire enough to start increasing coal consumption. Sure, we've all got Black Lung, but hey, at least we're no longer consuming that wretched imported oil.
But seriously, Beck? What would it take for solar and wind power to make your list? How much cash would those burgeoning industries have to throw your way?
4. I believe in the sovereignty and security of our country and therefore will support measures to close our borders except for designated immigration points so we will know who is entering and why. I will vehemently oppose any measure giving another country, the United Nations, or any other entity power over US citizens.
On the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, this point is especially ironic. That second part, though, is classic Beck. Never mind that the vast majority of Americans have rich immigrant histories, let's fuel the irrational fear that immigrants are out to get us by suggesting that the UN is trying to subjugate US citizens. Not quite sure where to even begin with that.
5. I believe the United States of America is the greatest country on earth and therefore will not apologize for policies or actions which have served to free more and feed more people around the world than any other nation on the planet.
Hey Beck, it's not all We Are The World out there, okay? If all we were out there doing was feeding and freeing people, I don't think anyone would be looking for an apology. But I hear you, we should be proud - we live in a great place where when most of disagree with the policies and actions of an elected leader, we get to just vote a new guy into office.
