Reprise: Victimizing Fat America

“I’m not fat. I’m suffering from the disease of obesity.”

These were the words that went through my head this morning as I read this headline at Yahoo: Obesity must be treated as disease -expert. And while I may admire the intentions of the physicians, researchers, and others involved with the 14th European Congress on Obesity, I can also see the fine hand of the mega-industrial pharmaceutical companies at work in this, manipulating once more to medicate symptoms, rather than treat causes. The (pharmacologically treatable) symptoms of obesity are mentioned several times in the article, for instance. The causes, however, are only mentioned once — and that in a very general way:

“Despite a better understanding of the causes of obesity, a multi-billion dollar diet industry and countless weight-loss programs and gadgets, the number of overweight and obese people is rising at an astounding rate.” (emphasis mine)

Lest anyone think I am callous and dismissive of the plight of overweight persons, I should probably mention right now that I am overweight by a significant measure, and have been for most of my life. I know, first-hand, how painful it is to be overweight, and the subtle but pervasive discrimination that continues to be practiced against the obese. I know the health problems, the self-esteem problems, and the social problems that come along with being overweight. And I also know that my obesity isn’t the result of a medical condition or disabiliy. My obesity is itself a symptom — the inevitable result of the lifestyle choices made over years, and continue to be made on a daily basis.

Speaking of choices: A bit further down the list of headlines was the following article: Soda ups risk of obesity, but isn’t sole culprit:

[The researchers from Ohio State University and Columbus Children's Hospital] found that, on average, teenagers drink two cans of soda every day, the equivalent of 20 teaspoons of sugar. Soda is also the biggest source of added sugars, which make up approximately 20 percent of total daily calories in children. However, experts recommend that people get no more than 10 percent of their daily calories from added sugars.

Additional research also suggests that too much soda can increase children’s risk of obesity, and decrease their intake of important vitamins and minerals. In one study, researchers found that for every additional can of soda children drink per day, their risk of obesity increases by 60 percent.”

A note: A “can” of soda is 12 oz. Most children and adults drink soda in liters, plastic bottles that are roughly twice that amount. The article hastens to assure us that (mega-corporate) sodas aren’t solely to blame for childhood obesity, and in that I concur. The cause of obesity for the vast majority of humans can’t be blamed on externals. The cause, for those who don’t have a legitimate medical condition, is choice.

One must choose soda over more healthful drinks. Portion sizes are a choice, as is how much we eat of what we are served. Choosing potato salad over green salad is a choice, as is choosing bleu cheese dressing over balsamic vinaigrette. Choosing to take the elevator rather than the stairs. Choosing to sit here and write my morning blog post rather than taking a walk first — all these choices matter. They all count. They all have consequences.

I urge you all to look at the pattern, here. Encouraging citizens to control the causes of obesity leads to personal empowerment. In emphasizing the right to choose, citizens become the authors of their lives rather than the spectators. Sales at MacDonalds, Jack-In-The-Box, Domino’s Pizza, and other fast-food corporations will plummet, as will the dominance of Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and other “diabetes drinks” in the marketplace. The multi-billion dollar diet and exercise industry would collapse. A vast potential market for the pharmaceutical corporations vanishes. Such an empowered citizenry might start to take a much harder look at the scam that is health insurance in this country, or the excuses that pass for “health care.” Wise to the power of choice, they may start to think a bit about their vote, and how best to cast it. Comfortable with the exercise of personal power, they may begin to recognize its abuse at the highest echelons of government and corporations.

But by focusing on consequences and managing symptoms, responsibility for choice is abdicated, and one becomes a victim. Victims are notoriously easy to manage. They have given over all self-knowlege of their choices, and handed over the management of the consequences over to the medical, insurance and pharmaceutical industries. By surrendering the right to choose, it’s easier stop thinking about my vote, or how my tax dollars are spent. Living in that victim mindset that assures me there’s nothing to be done about the abuses of corporate or governmental power. I can’t make a difference. Just sit back, pop the insulin, open a Coke, turn on the TV, relax…

It’s probably redundant to say it at this point, but I am deeply disturbed by the trend toward victimization in this country. Its continuance portends nothing but doom for us, and it is spreading at an alarming rate. We are told we are “victims” of child abuse, “victims” of domestic violence, “victims” of over-taxation, “victims” of terrorism, “victims” of alcohol abuse, “victims” of cocaine addiction, “victims” of job outsourcing, “victims” of almost everything imaginable. No matter how otherwise well-meaning, the underlying message is the same: Victim = Powerless.

We are becoming (or perhaps already have become) a Nation of Victims.

A nation, that is to say, of the chronically disempowered.

Quote of the Day: A society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves. –Bertrand de Jouvenal