Fortunately, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg suffered an embarrassing defeat this week when a judge ruled that his now infamous \u201csoda ban\u201d failed to pass legal muster.<\/p>\n
Yet the Mayor, far from being disheartened, dug his feet in further and promised to appeal the court\u2019s decision.\u00a0 He also once more defended his decision for wanting to prevent the city\u2019s eating establishments from selling more than 16 ounce servings of non-diet soda and other sugary drinks at a time.<\/p>\n
Bloomberg made it clear that his position on soft drinks is motivated by his desire, not to be a bully, as many of his critics allege, but to protect us from an \u201cepidemic\u201d that is consuming the nation: obesity.\u00a0 Moreover, he is especially concerned with protecting \u201cthe poor,\u201d who are more vulnerable to obesity than anyone else.\u00a0 Bloomberg explains that the poor \u201cdon\u2019t have the ability to take care of themselves\u201d as well as those with more resources.<\/p>\n
Setting aside the only thing that really matters\u2014the fact that bans of the sort on behalf of which the Bloombergs of the country advocate are a blatant affront to liberty\u2014 it requires just a little bit of thought to see that the Mayor\u2019s reasoning turns against itself.<\/p>\n
First of all, if it is obesity, <\/em>not starvation, <\/em>from whichAmerica\u2019s poor are suffering, then it would seem that the \u201cWar on Poverty\u201d that was launched nearly a half-of-a-century ago has indeed been won.\u00a0 The legions of activists who have been tirelessly telling us for years about \u201cthe millions\u201d of American children who go to be bed hungry each and every night can finally rest easy.\u00a0 State, local, and federal governments can at last dismantled the staggering complex of anti-poverty programs that have been in place for decades.\u00a0 We can now celebrate that the trillions of dollars that we\u2019ve spent since the War on Poverty began have not been spent in vain!<\/p>\n Of course, none of this is going to happen, but the point is that it should happen if the poor are afflicted by obesity.<\/p>\n Second, if it is good health that it is our objective, then the government shouldn\u2019t be half-ass in pursuing it.\u00a0 It should order all restaurant owners and grocers to either sell the foods that the government demands or else go out of business.\u00a0 And because those greedy titans of the food industry who Bloomberg decries can\u2019t be trusted to observe its dictates of their own volition, the government must destroy all competition in the realms of producing and selling food.<\/p>\n Yet this isn\u2019t all.<\/p>\n The government should take over all health and fitness clubs while making it illegal for citizens not <\/em>to exercise at least, say, three times a week.\u00a0 Government-issued gym membership cards can be distributed to the citizenry. When Americans attend a gym, their membership cards will be swiped and then registered in a government computer base.\u00a0 After a time\u2014so many months, say, or maybe a year\u2014if it is shown that they didn\u2019t make their government-allotted quota of gym visits, stiff penalties will be attached.<\/p>\n Candy stores, taverns, liquor stores, and bakeries should all be closed for good.<\/p>\n Another point to which Bloomberg\u2019s reasoning leads concerns non-physical aspects of human health and well-being.\u00a0 If it is permissible for the government to \u201ccontrol\u201d what we eat and drink for the sake of making our lives better, why shouldn\u2019t it be ok for it to at least try to control what we think <\/em>and believe <\/em>for the same purpose?<\/p>\n The government can start requiring every literate American to read so many books within specified timeframes.\u00a0 It can issue library memberships.\u00a0 As there are now tax forms that American workers must fill out so that the government can take stock of every cent they earn, so too will the government now be able to monitor Americans\u2019 reading\u2014reading that it assigns.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n Government can as well impose a \u201chigh culture\u201d quota under which Americans are forced to attend so many museums and theatres per year.<\/p>\n Finally, since study after study has shown that religious people tend to feel more fulfilled than their secular counterparts, government should compel all Americans to attend religious services regularly.\u00a0 Perhaps the Bible should be on the government\u2019s required reading list. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n We needn\u2019t continue.\u00a0 By now it should be clear that the logic of Bloomberg\u2019s vision leads to an America in which few of us would want to live.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fortunately, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg suffered an embarrassing defeat this week when a judge ruled that his now infamous \u201csoda ban\u201d failed to pass legal muster. Yet the Mayor, far from being disheartened, dug his feet in further and promised to appeal the court\u2019s decision.\u00a0 He also once more defended his decision for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":399,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n