The Fat Police and the Death of Personal Responsibility

Stacy has written a couple of posts over the past few days about how much she hates all varieties of soda. I too am not a fan of soda in general. I used to drink Mountain Dew by the gallon when I was in high school and college, but I started drinking water somewhere in there and now when I go back to soda it's hard because it really burns my throat. I'll still have an occasional red cream soda when Roxi and I do some shopping at her neighborhood Piggly Wiggly or mix a little RC Cola with some whiskey when my friend Nate and I are hanging out, but most of the time I am an exclusive water and orange juice guy. That being said, I don't fault someone for drinking soda and I certainly don't think that people should be stripped of the right to decide between a water or a Coke. Sadly in another loss in the war for personal responsibility, many state legislatures are considering passing laws banning the sale of sodas in schools.

The Bill Clinton Foundation has brokered a deal with soda companies to stop the sales of sodas in elementary and middle schools while offering only diet soda alternatives in high schools. Now this may seem harmless on the surface because this just affects kids and many consumer advocates have taken it upon themselves to protect everyone else's kids whenever they get the chance. But I just don't like the precedent this sets. It is no secret that there is a large movement in this country trying to demonize the sale of fattening and high calorie foods to children. The problem I have with this is that they are not out to affect a cultural change through education but rather through legislation.

The problem with most advocacy groups is that they begin their crusade with truly noble intentions, but they are almost always victims of their own success. Once they achieve their prescribed goal they rarely disband but rather narrow their focus and soldier on. I fear that this will be the end result of the "food police" making decisions for everyone else's children. And for the "it doesn't effect me" people, my response is, "Not yet." This will work it's way into the adult population. I don't really think that it is a stretch to expect calls for restricting the sales of soda to minors, moving to banning sales of soda in the workplace and then finally outlawing soda sales altogether. Sure that seems ridiculous, but many of these groups want to tax soda so much, you won't want to consume it. And if you aren't a soda drinker, there is something you like to eat or drink that will be targeted eventually. The Fat Police are here and they are rabidly working to save us all from ourselves. A Fat Tax is coming; it's only a matter of time.

UPDATE: To respond to Katie's comment and clarify my feelings on sodas in school, I do not intend to imply that kids should necessarily have them, I am saying that it should be parents and not any city, state or federal entity that makes this type of child rearing decision. I know that children will not always follow their parents' rules, but it the responsibility of parents to set those rules and dole out punishment. The government should not be in the business of raising children other than in cases of child abuse. Of course some advocacy groups would argue that allowing your children to have sodas amounts to child abuse. That is debatable, but I am the product of parents who allowed me and my brothers to drink sodas and we turned out very healthy. The point is, how can any government honestly be able to know what is best for everyone's kids? It's asinine. Furthermore, they will not stop with child advocacy. It will eventually spill over into advocacy over adults lives. Give them and inch, and the government will take a mile. I don't want to give up any more inches let alone a whole mile.