Originally posted by Delirium
So, if someone is in need of care for drug abuse you can ignore them because they sacrificed their rights?
No, dammit, that was nowhere near what I said. For some reason, whenever I open my mouth on this topic, people get real touchy real fast, as if I'm being blasphemous.
I'm not saying that you discard these people, at all, I'm just asking why we don't ascribe more responsibility to them then we do to the rest of the world. Why is it when somebody malfunctions, either mentally of physically, it's immediately, predominantly, the fault of somebody else?
America's growing weight problem is not rooted in Americans' genetic predispositions to weight gain, or to pre-existing disease. If that were the case, we wouldn't be seeing a marked rise in average mass among the 2nd and 3rd generation Americans. It is a behavioral problem, by and large, with the causes pretty clear. Too many calories, too much sugar, too little physical exercise, and, apparently, too little accountability. This country loves its saturated fat, its cars and its litigation, and although peopel such as these are unfortunate, they are largely the products of all of these factors.
I'm very sorry about the lady you spoke of. I've seen the ravages of diabetes, as well as a number of other diseases, and it's no joke. My family itself has been hit heard by heart disease (my father being the closest relative to nearly die of it). The response? Discipline, care, sctrict adherence to doctor's orders and, yes, family support. I simply do not see this as being the default response of overweight Americans. In fact, the predominant response, I believe, is total oblivion in the face of what they fail to recognize is nothing short of a debilitating, deadly condition.
