I personally felt a blow to the brain when Barack Obama was elected president, and have not since recovered (but many of you readers know me and know how hard I take politics). My current state of hopelessness in humanity is not helped by the Obama merchandise hawked by the Blacks outside the train station ("Get yo' Obama, First Black President hat right here. I gots 'em in all colors!") or by every single story I read about the insanity already surrounding our next president (is anyone surprised that the terrorists called him a house negro? I'm surprised they said negro, to be honest. I wonder if they realize that they watered that remark down....I digress).
Today I read THIS STORY today about a study that proposes cutting out Fast Food advertisements from television could reduce "childhood obesity" by up to 18%. What these "researchers" or "scientists" are basically saying in their study is that kids in America are stupid (natch) and that they are so easily influenced by TV that the mere sight of a McDonald's commercial makes them at risk for being fat. Let's not consider that kids get fat because their parents allow them to eat too much, eat unhealthily, do not encourage physical activity, or any number of other DIRECTLY RELATED environmental factors. The "scientists" instead assume that the actual purveyors of the food products are (once again) the perpetrators truly responsible for making kids fat (how dare you supersize me!).
This study is based on a premise that has been circulating for a while now in "science" and the media that essentially posits that responsibility for fat people lies in the hands of the merchants, not the individual doing the eating. The corollary is the belief that, in all reality, McDonalds wants to make you and your kid fat--because they are evil and they make money (like Wal-Mart.) Studies like these never take into account the actual problem, the true reason for obesity:
Lack of Discipline.
I can speak from experience. A little over a year ago I weighed close to 275 pounds and my health suffered for it (high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc.) and thus the doctor informed me that I needed to lose weight and fast. Realizing that I had no excuse for being fat (I never exercised, had an atrocious diet, and was basically just plain lazy) I decided to take action, and you know what, it was hard.
It is hard to not eat McDonalds and instead train yourself to enjoy vegetables, fiber products, and almost no sweets. It is hard to go out and run every day, to lift weights, to exercise. It is hard to pass by those free donuts at work every morning, or to give up your favorite sugary breakfast cereals and beer binges. All the things that are necessary to keep you from being fat, to keep you healthy, are hard. However, I did them. With discipline I changed my diet to a very healthy one, and I began to exercise daily. Over the course of a few months I lost nearly fifty pounds. A year later I weigh in at 200, and am continuing each day to lose more. I knuckled down and dedicated myself to the lifestyle that was required. My blood pressure is perfect, as is my cholesterol, and my resting heart beat is around 50 now....but it was hard. Changing my life required enormous amounts of struggle, because I absolutely hate running, but the discipline pays off.
Such is true for almost all areas of life, and is why the military is often successful in transforming reprobates and worthless losers into heroes, or at least people who can live a positive life. All of America's problems stem from an endemic lack of discipline, which itself stems from many other factors that I do not have the time to go into. Discipline is a learned behaviour that is not inherent to our human, sinful natures, and thus we see the effects of a rampant, ungodly society reflected daily in America. Credit Card debt? Lack of financial discipline. Obesity? Lack of nutritional discipline. In prison? Lack of an encyclopedia's worth of discipline. Democrats in Washington? Lack of political discipline.
The lack of discipline shown by these "scientists" in blaming Fast Food ads for fat kids is just another indicator of America's inherent ruin.
Posts
1 comment:
Very nice, post John. There is always a problem of blame shifting when organizations such as the government are involved, but people are behind all organizations and it is human nature to pass the ol' buck. Cause and effect is a concept that eludes many otherwise smart people. The economic turmoil is a direct result of printing too much money and wondering why it is undervalued -that and giving loans to people who have no money.
Post a Comment