What about personal responsibility?

Governments now want to decide what we can eat, drink, read, watch, and probably soon, what we can wear.  I want to know whatever happened to personal responsibility?  It's not the government's place to decide these things for us, or for our children.

Take Connor McCreaddie, an 8 year old who weighs 99kg (217.8 pounds) and lives in London.  The government has met with his parents to discuss his weight and what should be done about it.  The government will make a decision 'on whether to take the boy away from his mother'. I wondered how long it would take for this to come to the United States.  I heard on Fox News about a young girl in the same situation as Connor McDreaddie, but I can't find a source to back it up.

Yesterday I heard about efforts to ban Girl Scout Cookies.

The Milburn-based organization National Action Against Obesity called for a boycott this year, claiming Do-Si-Dos and Samoas are contributing to the country's obesity epidemic.

"Using young girls as a front to push millions of cookies onto an already bloated population further exacerbates an alarming crisis, no matter how cute the uniforms are," says NAAO President MeMe Roth in a press release.  (Courier Post Online)

Good grief Charlie Brown.  What are these people thinking.  One site offers advice on how to consume Girl Scout Cookies 'moderately'.  Girl Scouts is an excellent organization for girls, teaching them life skills and the cookie drive is considered a valuable "business  leadership model for girls".

Some restaurants and fast food places have negative images now because some of their food contains trans-fats and you might gain weight if you eat too much.  Should the government be telling restaurants what they can and can't serve to the public?  Shouldn't the public have the right to choose? 

In the United States of America you can 'choose' to kill an unborn baby, but you can't 'choose' to eat something greasy if you want? 

I think parents should have the right to educate, feed, clothe, entertain their children without the government butting in.  Just my opinion.

Yes there are health issues, the cost of health insurance, etc.  But I think the government is getting way too big for it's britches. 

If one can describe the state of politics in the United States as encompassing one single theme, it would be theme of government intervention into the lives of its citizens. The debate has raged since the fiery genesis of this great experiment in self-government, it has been defined as the engine that drove the country to civil war, and it is a debate still raging. The irony, of course, is that today’s debate has turned topsy-turvy. Those who traditionally fought against government intrusion into their personal lives are now at the forefront of the movement defending that very intrusion, ... (American Chronicle)

What say you?

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Comments

[Darth Chaos]

The CSPI, NAAO, and the CCF are ALL criminal co-conspirators in the government-manufactured obesity epidemic. This epidemic can be DIRECTLY attributed to aspartame (which the CSPI sang the praises of in the past), HFCS, and even trans fats (once again, which the CSPI sang the praises of in the past). Big Food is run my MURDERERS.

This is nothing but a criminal co-conspiracy in order to turn people fat so the fat people can be doped up on obesity drugs which will probably KILL. And guess who's in the pockets of Big Pharma? Their front groups: the CSPI and the NAAO. Big Pharma is run by murderers, and these front groups are criminal co-conspirators in murder, eugenics, and genocide.

You heard me right. I'm OUTRIGHT calling Richard Berman, Michael Jacobson, and MeMe Roth criminal co-conspirators in murder, eugenics, genocide, and even TREASON. These three eugenicists/murders are TRAITORS against the American people. They put corporate interests ahead of the American people. THAT, by its very definition, is TREASON.

[Debbie]

Mark McDonald, thank you so much for your comment. There are indeed people with medical problems that cause them to have trouble losing weight. I appreciate you sharing your personal story and that of your son.

Our hearts go out to families in your situation. God bless you as you deal with each day.

[Layla]

This is NOT a socialist nation where we have the MR/MRS. Government telling us what to eat and what not to eat. But it seems to be getting that way. There is such a thing that our gov has drilled into us from its inception-PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY--now they want to recind and tell us what to eat, what not to eat--to smoke or not to smoke. I am not advocating bad eating habits, child obesity, nor smoking, but there is such a thing as common sense. Use it or lose out! The gov has no business getting involved in that. So much for the people by the people!

[Always On Watch]

The government has no business in this matter. At least, that's how I see it.

First, today, intervening on a child's weight problem. What's next on the list of unfit-parents offenses?

[Angel]

Great find Debbie..and thanks for linking it!...gosh..seems like not much is in our control anymore eh?..sigh.:(

[Mark McDonald]

Connor McCreaddie has a genetic syndrome which causes him to be both abnormally tall as well as abnormally heavy. If you pay attention to his statistics stated in the story, you might notice that as well as being heavy, he is nearly a foot taller than an average child his age. There are plenty of diets that can cause someone to be overweight. There is no diet in the world that can cause a child to grow a foot taller than normal by age eight.
How do I know that he has a genetic disorder and is not just a glutton? I have a child that is just a few months younger than him that could be his twin. Other than hair color, they look identical. He was born right at average length and weight, but by his two month check-up he was off the charts and has stayed that way.
After taking him to numerous doctors who had no idea what was wrong with him, we finally ended up at the genetics department of Children's Hospital of San Diego. The doctor ran many tests and concluded that he has a genetic disorder. Unfortunately, it is not a common enough disorder to have been named or studied, much less a cure or treatment to have been found.
His mother and I been have been married and together all of his life, and have worked constantly on his weight issues all of his life to no avail.
I cannot speak for Connor but my son has mild Autism and it is very difficult to change his habits. We have been working very hard to add foods to his diet, but have had very little success. He does dislike new foods, he is afraid of them.
If you will notice from the story, Connor does not eat large amounts of sweets and treats, but large amounts of meats. This is not something that a self indulgent glutton does. His mother also states that he is constantly hungry. Again, this is not consistant with the glutton. Gluttons eat when they are bored or anxious, not when they are hungry. (This has been shown in scientific studies.) There are gluttons around who are overweight because of personal habits, but if you look carefully, Connor does not seem to be among them.

Scincerely,
Scintor

[Thomas Hamilton]

"If one can describe the state of politics in the United States as encompassing one single theme, it would be theme of government intervention into the lives of its citizens. The debate has raged since the fiery genesis of this great experiment in self-government, it has been defined as the engine that drove the country to civil war, and it is a debate still raging."

Yep, there's nothing worse than a buncha meddlesome yankees sticking their noses where they don't belong.......

What really blisters my hide are the anti-smoking nazis. You hear everyday politicians from both sides of the aisle acting with such zeal to ban smoking that they simply throw the idea of personal freedom out the window.

No doubt that smoking is bad for you, but if I want to do it, IT IS MY BUSINESS! If I own a bar or a restaurant and I want to allow smoking in it then IT IS MY BUSINESS! If customers don't like it, they don't have to come in. If employees don't like it, they can go find another job.

Wearing seatbelts and crash helmets are good ideas. Everyone with a grain of sense should do it. However, if I want to catapult my head through a windshield of smash it on the pavement like a watermelon, IT IS MY BUSINESS!

I get so sick of the gubment telling me what is good for me that I could just scream. Hell they can't even balance their own budget or spend within their means. What right do they have to tell me what to do?

They're all worthless and weak!

Drop down and give me twenty!

[Rastaman]

When it comes to taking a bloated child away from overindulgent parents, I'm on the side of the child. Those parents are killing the kid. He needs to be anywhere but there because he's got stupid parents who encourage him to become a hideous fat ball, for whatever sick reasons of their own. I have a nephew who overeats and encourages, -- and I have heard him do this repeatedly -- actually encourages his daughter to overeat, with the result that this 9 year old has a stomach that hangs out and down. I'd like to brain the dumb bastard.

Adults, on the other hand, are a different story. We started losing our self-determination to government with the seat belt and helmet laws that were enacted solely to save money/prevent claims to insurance companies. NOT for the public good, but for corporate good.

When it comes to government regulating corporations over the crap they put in our food, I'm for it. A lot of food additives are artificial substances that are harmful as hell. I don't want to get cancer from Burger King additives. Food should be wholesome and healthy, not filled with cheap but tasty goo that I unsuspectingly gobble down that turns into cancerous fat.

When it comes to How Much food I eat, that's up to me. Part of the bloating of America is the crap in the food but the bigger part is the unrestrained eating habits of the consumer.

We have become a nation of fat slobs who make assinine noises about their "gland problem" or some other totally BS excuse for packing more and more into their gaping maws. I guess if they won't take it on themselves to stop using 2 seats on the bus and overlapping 3 on the airplane, then the government feels it should step in. Personally I don't think so. I think a new food tax should be enacted based on calories, like a Luxury tax. The higher the calorie count of something, the higher the tax. Make a lean hamburger cheap and a fat loaded burger cost like hell. Include starch in the calorie count, of course. That will generate massive revenues and force the Immense Buttocks types to stop eating for five. The extremely high cost of cigarets has cause a lot of people to quit smoking, and it's all taxes.

I like the idea anyway.

Good post, this is a subject that does need to be dealt with. Just exactly how will probably end up as a mix of government, corporate and consumer-group interests.

Rastaman
www.islamanazi.com

[benning]

The less responsibilty we have, and the more we foist onto the Government, the easier it becomes to allow the government to rule us rather than to govern for us.

The silliness with cries against fatty, or fattening, foods is already here. It isn't the fault of the chubbo who eats three Big Macs at a sitting, day in and day out. It's the fault of McDonalds who sells it. It ain't the fault of the fatso plowing an entire package of Oreos into his gaping maw, it's the fault of Nabisco.

I'm a tad chubbier than I want to be. But that's my own stupidity for eating too much and exercising too little. And I'll never sue M&Ms! Never!

Love those M&Ms! :D

If the government cannot control the US borders, what business do they have trying to control our living habits?

[Jodi]

I say its a load of crap and I'm sick of it. The government's focus should be on National Security, our borders, and our FOOD SUPPLY.(Which you wrote about earlier - BTW, fantastic post) I don't know what our officials are on but they better sober up.