'Fat Tax'. Are you in favour of it?..

[duranman]

Many in the UK are shouting about obese people putting a massive strain on our society. I realise you have a different welfare protocol in the US, but are you still principally in favour of penalising overweight people when they infringe upon the quality of life of normal people? Also, would you be in favour of 'Fat Bastard Culling' if people didn't conform?...

 

[Stewart_Pidd]

Many in the UK are shouting about obese people putting a massive strain on our society. I realise you have a different welfare protocol in the US, but are you still principally in favour of penalising overweight people when they infringe upon the quality of life of normal people? Also, would you be in favour of 'Fat Bastard Culling' if people didn't conform?...

they should cull the idiots first, you'll be first in line bro!

Stew

 

[duranman]

they should cull the idiots first, you'll be first in line bro!

Stew

First bro?...

 

[BotanyBoy]

Just tax the fuck out of all the baddie food and keep it all for HC, keep the fucking bomb makers dicks out of it....problem solved.

 

[Sean Renaud]

It seems like that would be a lot of work to go through to be honest. i mean it sounds less than terrible but WAY too much work to bother wish. Taxing the food might work but. . .you'd pretty much just have to tax all food and its generally agreed that taxing food is just cruel and unusual to the poor.

 

[susurrus]

I think a Stupid Tax would be more appropriate.

However, the politicians would have to pay in the most for that, so it'll never fly...

 

[lemonbread]

Overweight people kind of tend to think of themselves as a minority over here. Like it's something they can't help and they don't deserve to take any crap for it, and sometimes even think they deserve special treatment because of it. Some cases are truly like that, if it's a medical issue, but that aside, a fat tax or something like that would probably cause a public uproar. I doubt our government would do it. I doubt it would help either. Junk food and overeating is an addiction. Has taxing cigatettes to hell really caused a lot of smokers to rethink their issues?

 

[Sean Renaud]

Have taxes on cigarrettes lowered smoking? Impossible to tell since it's been coupled with an all out blitz to demonize smoking. However it gets more money to the government so we can now pay for more health hazards. It's sort of a win win, just I don't think this plan would work as advertised.

 

[someoneyouknow]

Since I am now forced to pay for the medical costs of the smokers, obese, alcoholics and drug users, all of whom do not have to change their ways because someone else gets to pick up the tab, absolutely.

Biggest Loser for the entire country!

 

[Sean Renaud]

While we're still a little ways away from THAT being practical it's not a terrible plan.

 

[susurrus]

I don't know how it is over in the UK, but even with all the medicos touting how big the general populace is getting in the US, there's still nothing done to curb the proliferation of foodstuffs that have no real nutritional value.

And once again, I don't know how it is elsewhere, but here, eating out is an exercise in excess. Even if you don't order anything but an entree, that entree is usually enough for at least two or three servings, per the general guidelines the medical establishment has set out. And the argument is that restaurants wouldn't be able to survive on what they'd have to charge if they only gave each diner a single serving. As well, we've become so used to huge portions when eating out around here, that even if we only paid a couple dollars to get just a single serving's worth of whatever we ordered, we'd look at the plate brought to us and think, "Where the hell's the rest?"

One of the biggest contributors to the obesity rate is the technologization of society. A great majority of us spend most of our waking hours sitting at a computer, then go home and spend more time sitting in front of a television, video game console or some other sedentary activity. When there was a lot less technology in our lives - not really that long ago - people got out and moved more.

The way to lose weight is to expend more calories than you take in. How many of us can say we manage to do that? And those that do, how are their days allocated?

As far as the question of whether the fat should be taxed, where does that argument end? As been pointed out, they've been trying to tax the smokers out, but the tobacco people are still raking in billions.

A lot of insurance companies are sort of doing this kind of thing already: making people go for annual checkups - with their people - to determine what their premium rate is to be.

I guess the question to the initial question is: How do the obese interfere with the quality of life for the "normal" people?

 

[bg23]

It seems like that would be a lot of work to go through to be honest. i mean it sounds less than terrible but WAY too much work to bother wish. Taxing the food might work but. . .you'd pretty much just have to tax all food and its generally agreed that taxing food is just cruel and unusual to the poor.

Exactly. Poverty and obesity are extremely closely linked, in no small part because eating well is so much more expensive.

I bought like...4 apples the other day for $6. Such nonsense.

 

[siobhansmut]

the government should not even exist, no less be able to tax people for anything other than a provided service. however, on the other hand, obese people should be beaten with a sock full of frozen mcdonalds nuggets and forced to excercise.

 

[Sean Renaud]

Exactly. Poverty and obesity are extremely closely linked, in no small part because eating well is so much more expensive.

I bought like...4 apples the other day for $6. Such nonsense.

It's not just that eating well is more expensive. Being poor tends to be stressful, you have less time off to take care of yourself, less time to do food prep. Apples don't keep nearly as well as Kraft Mac and Cheese. I recently cleaned out my cupboards, I kid you not I had food in there that's older than some of my nieces and nephews. . .and they are in middle school!

It's still good though. Apples are lucky if they last a more than a week though.

 

[siobhansmut]

It's not just that eating well is more expensive. Being poor tends to be stressful, you have less time off to take care of yourself, less time to do food prep. Apples don't keep nearly as well as Kraft Mac and Cheese. I recently cleaned out my cupboards, I kid you not I had food in there that's older than some of my nieces and nephews. . .and they are in middle school!

It's still good though. Apples are lucky if they last a more than a week though.

so you clean your kitchen once a decade or less? thats awesome

 

[Sean Renaud]

the government should not even exist, no less be able to tax people for anything other than a provided service. however, on the other hand, obese people should be beaten with a sock full of frozen mcdonalds nuggets and forced to excercise.

Of course government should exist.

so you clean your kitchen once a decade or less? thats awesome

My cupboards? Honestly I don't clean them. I eventually move and can't be assed to take everything with me but otherwise shit'll stay there.

 

[bg23]

It's not just that eating well is more expensive. Being poor tends to be stressful, you have less time off to take care of yourself, less time to do food prep. Apples don't keep nearly as well as Kraft Mac and Cheese. I recently cleaned out my cupboards, I kid you not I had food in there that's older than some of my nieces and nephews. . .and they are in middle school!

It's still good though. Apples are lucky if they last a more than a week though.

You're absolutely right. Fast food - and I don't just mean from restaurants - is cheaper and easier. A frozen meal will cost like $1 - and it's mostly cardboard and pig ass but it heats up in 4 minutes which is important when you have 3 kids and 2 jobs and can barely get enough sleep to function and take care of your family.

 

[Sean Renaud]

You're absolutely right. Fast food - and I don't just mean from restaurants - is cheaper and easier. A frozen meal will cost like $1 - and it's mostly cardboard and pig ass but it heats up in 4 minutes which is important when you have 3 kids and 2 jobs and can barely get enough sleep to function and take care of your family.

Yep. Now granted SOME of our habits kinda date back to when fridges were luxury items and not necessities. We don't NEED to have white bread but we aren't getting rid of it anytime soon.

 

[duranman]

You're absolutely right. Fast food - and I don't just mean from restaurants - is cheaper and easier. A frozen meal will cost like $1 - and it's mostly cardboard and pig ass but it heats up in 4 minutes which is important when you have 3 kids and 2 jobs and can barely get enough sleep to function and take care of your family.

So there we have it: The slimmer the person the more affluent you are. Hmmm...

 

[Sean Renaud]

It's not a hard rule but it does trend yes.

 

[bg23]

Yep. Now granted SOME of our habits kinda date back to when fridges were luxury items and not necessities. We don't NEED to have white bread but we aren't getting rid of it anytime soon.

Yeah, and the bread in America is crazy stuff. Store bought super market bread - I don't know what you guys put in this stuff but the fact that it can sit on the counter for over a month and NOTHING happens to it is mind boggling and terrifying to me. And it's not like it's dried out or anything, it's still soft. But no mould, nothing.

I think bread in Australia sat out for about a week before it would get mouldy or just dry the hell out. If I put the bread in the fridge maybe it'd last 2 weeks, MAYBE.

Plus it's a fuckton sweeter, because of the addition of HFCS. Which, actually is in like so many things, I don't doubt it's also in some way to blame for rates of obesity.

 

[bg23]

So there we have it: The slimmer the person the more affluent you are. Hmmm...

Well there are skinny poor people too. And there are fat rich people. But you'll find that overwhelmingly, the poorest areas in America will have the highest rates of obesity.

This article talks in detail about why:

http://frac.org/initiatives/hunger-...le-at-greater-risk-for-overweight-or-obesity/

 

[Sean Renaud]

Yeah, and the bread in America is crazy stuff. Store bought super market bread - I don't know what you guys put in this stuff but the fact that it can sit on the counter for over a month and NOTHING happens to it is mind boggling and terrifying to me. And it's not like it's dried out or anything, it's still soft. But no mould, nothing.

I think bread in Australia sat out for about a week before it would get mouldy or just dry the hell out. If I put the bread in the fridge maybe it'd last 2 weeks, MAYBE.

Plus it's a fuckton sweeter, because of the addition of HFCS. Which, actually is in like so many things, I don't doubt it's also in some way to blame for rates of obesity.

We signed a pact with Satan. It's also why we got oil.

 

[lovecraft68]

Just tax the fuck out of all the baddie food and keep it all for HC, keep the fucking bomb makers dicks out of it....problem solved.

We should tax the shit out of pot is what we should do, make it unaffordable then the potheads wouldn't get the munchies and eat to much and become obese and collect welfare while they toke up and eat.

That's what I think.

Then again I'm in good shape and don't need to smoke pot 24/7 to deal with life so I may be biased here.

 

[tactful]

A flat tax of say, 7.5% on any income, no if's and or but's, fuck everybody.