Fatness is our own fault
By: Candice Brusuelas
Issue date: 2/22/10 Section: Opinion
I was reading the Chase today, and came across the article "Is our freedom why we are so fat?" by Bethany Mello. The first thought across my mind is 'Ah no, not another partially complete, poorly thought out liberal idea!'. Though I am strongly conservative, I am very open-minded, but this article was just ridiculous.
Bethany made a point about obesity and diabetes being hereditary. A child cannot inherit obesity or diabetes if the conditions do not run in a person's family. A person cannot pass on genes they do not have. Rather, the condition would be afflicted by the person's own choices in diet, to themselves alone. A mother could have made unhealthy choices in diet throughout her life, instigating either condition. Since she did not inherit them genetically, they could not be passed on to her children. On the other hand, a person whose obesity or diabetes runs in the family could take extreme care of themselves and still pass either on to their children. This is nothing the government could possibly do anything about. Genetic traits will be passed on regardless, and personal habits, though leading to these conditions, do not affect a person's children genetically. The parents do, however, set an example for their children to follow.
One part of the article said "Much like when we were kids, we should be told what to eat for our benefit." The problem with this? We're not kids, we're adults. All of us are responsible for our own health, and if someone cannot put on their big boy or big girl pants, then that is their own fault. Some of us are actually responsible in taking care of ourselves, and do not need to be told what to do. And what would they do about it? Fine us every time we stopped at McDonalds? Businesses like them would go under if people were not allowed to eat there. Talk about infringement on free enterprise.
Is the government supposed to tell us everything we're not supposed to do? Though some people act like it, we are not mindless creatures. Is the government going to tell us not to drive because so many people die a year from car accidents? Not to watch TV because they make us lazy and turn our minds to mush? Not to play sports in schools because it detracts from education? Regulating what we eat because some of us eat the wrong things? These are all extremes. The government has no business in our daily lives any more than to keep order. What we choose to do affects our own lives; it should not be imposed on others.
Freedom is what makes our lives in America so great! We can choose the jobs we want, choose to educate ourselves, choose to practice whatever religion we believe in, choose to publish our own arguments, however ridiculous, in the school paper. One of the greatest parts of our freedom is that we get out of life what we put into it. Each of us holds up our own.
The government is not made to live our lives for us.
Bethany made a point about obesity and diabetes being hereditary. A child cannot inherit obesity or diabetes if the conditions do not run in a person's family. A person cannot pass on genes they do not have. Rather, the condition would be afflicted by the person's own choices in diet, to themselves alone. A mother could have made unhealthy choices in diet throughout her life, instigating either condition. Since she did not inherit them genetically, they could not be passed on to her children. On the other hand, a person whose obesity or diabetes runs in the family could take extreme care of themselves and still pass either on to their children. This is nothing the government could possibly do anything about. Genetic traits will be passed on regardless, and personal habits, though leading to these conditions, do not affect a person's children genetically. The parents do, however, set an example for their children to follow.
One part of the article said "Much like when we were kids, we should be told what to eat for our benefit." The problem with this? We're not kids, we're adults. All of us are responsible for our own health, and if someone cannot put on their big boy or big girl pants, then that is their own fault. Some of us are actually responsible in taking care of ourselves, and do not need to be told what to do. And what would they do about it? Fine us every time we stopped at McDonalds? Businesses like them would go under if people were not allowed to eat there. Talk about infringement on free enterprise.
Is the government supposed to tell us everything we're not supposed to do? Though some people act like it, we are not mindless creatures. Is the government going to tell us not to drive because so many people die a year from car accidents? Not to watch TV because they make us lazy and turn our minds to mush? Not to play sports in schools because it detracts from education? Regulating what we eat because some of us eat the wrong things? These are all extremes. The government has no business in our daily lives any more than to keep order. What we choose to do affects our own lives; it should not be imposed on others.
Freedom is what makes our lives in America so great! We can choose the jobs we want, choose to educate ourselves, choose to practice whatever religion we believe in, choose to publish our own arguments, however ridiculous, in the school paper. One of the greatest parts of our freedom is that we get out of life what we put into it. Each of us holds up our own.
The government is not made to live our lives for us.