...just how stupid do they think we are, that we don't notice the calorie counts on the backs of soda cans, 20 oz or larger bottles, and snack packages? Do they really think we don't notice that a 12 oz can is a serving and a half, or that a 20 oz bottle is 2.5 servings, and are incapable of figuring the calorie counts from there?? Do they really think that moving the calorie count to the front of the packaging, and listing total calories for the entire bottle/can/package is going to change anyone's mind about consuming it?
I wonder what the first wookie would say if she were told that we notice, can do the math, know that none of it is good for us, and simply don't give a damn because we enjoy it? Maybe she'd be shocked--looking at the size of her ass, she may well be one of those incapable of doing either basic reasoning or basic math enough to figure out the calorie counts on the crap she eats and drinks. She may well just be projecting her own inadequacies onto the rest of us.
Personally, I think Smith is right (even though he's talking about smoking): "What it has to do with is the complete unsuitability, in their twisted minds, of simple human pleasure in the lives of everyone around them. This used to be the preoccupation of Puritanical religions. Today, most of the people of this bent have abandoned religion, but they haven't abandoned the demented ecstasy they experience by shouting "Thou shalt not!" at everyone in sight -- and being able to back it up with the brute force of governmental edict."
7 minutes ago
Gah. It just makes me SO tired and SO sad to hear all the healthist crap talk aimed at making people feel guilty for eating something that's "not nutritive." (And unfortunately, I am one of those prone to feel guilty. So they succeed in sucking the pleasure out of, I don't know, my rare indulgences in a Hostess cake or something. It sucks.)
ReplyDeleteI don't even LIKE soda and don't really drink it, but I'm just so damn tired of all the finger-wagging. Leave the damn soda alone.
I think of the C.S. Lewis line about how the most distasteful and terrible sort of tyrant is the one who is tyrannical with the justification of "it's for your own good."
When somebody picks at me about what I eat or drink, I usually shoot back with "What was the last thing you really enjoyed eating?"
ReplyDeleteMost of them can't really remember.
And my worst vice is plain, black coffee. Maybe not bad in calories, but the way I make it, even decaf has significant amounts of caffeine in it. I've had to moderate the amounts and watch the timing--I'm nursing my youngest, and she's a lot more sensitive to that and to medications that I take than my son was.
Second worst is fruit flavored candy. I'd actually prefer juice or fruit, most of the time, but it's just *so expensive* compared to a bag of Skittles.
And there's the rub for the first wookie's plans: how much healthy food costs. Unless they modify food stamp programs to purchase nothing but the cheapest of raw ingredients, there's no way people won't buy less expensive prepared junk over more expensive prepared healthy food, and most people don't know how to cook.
Actually, I drink Diet Rite coke because I like it!
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