Prejudice Against the Fat

reply to post by Bluesma


Really? You honestly are making a direct tie-in between the Constitutional responsibilities of the government (Security, commerce, infrastructure) and something the current president pulled out of his fairy tale visions and made reality via a stacked deck Congress during his first 2 years in office? If you are a voting American, here's your sign.

As for directly responding to any specific points you made, you're trying to compare apples to toadstools. On one hand you've got a list of things EVERYONE, rich, middle, poor uses pretty equally: Roads, defense, infrastructure , all things funded with tax dollars AND USED BY US ALL WITH BENEFIT roughly PROPORTIONATE TO TAX PAYER COST. (WTH is the postal service doing on your list man? They're broke, government isn't bailing them out, foreshadowing of the future destiny of our wonderful socialized medicine system, or maybe foreshadowing of the average socialized medicine patient? hmmm....) Why not simplify things? Person A doesn't have to worry about Person B's health related behavior because he isn't paying for anyone other than himself and, conversely, Person B doesn't worry about Person A's wallet because he isn't expecting any money out of anyone other than himself. That's a concept called personal responsibility and, regardless of how many immature, irresponsible dependents America may currently have whining their way through life, I refuse to call personal responsibility dead.

reply to post by burdman30ott6


Basic healthcare is considered part of the collective rights and responsibilities in most of the developed world. It is not like that was a wild crazy card he pulled out of no where. And as much as those against the idea like to bring up the problems of it that exist in the systems of Canada and England, they also tend to ignore of overlook the many countries it does work in!

But in any case.... leave the prospect of socialized medicine aside.....as someone with a few of my own neices and nephews serving in the US military, risking their lives to protect the american soil, yes, I still feel it is selfish and ignorant to say you should have the right to slowly kill yourself all the while they try to protect your life!

You can have that freedom, but ALSO demand that I not grumble loudly about it? Or choose not to hire you or other ways of expressing my predjuduce as well? I think that is asking too much.
- and this from someone who was so individualist/capitalist/right winged at some point I DID leave the country and loudly spoke my disagreement with social programs of any sort for a long time. Until I had to face facts- I was wrong- I was not disconnected from the world around me, no matter how hard I tried. And neither is anyone else.

My best friend is overweight, FAT. My BF is also brilliant, funny, trustworthy and rich. Weight is irrelevant

You should wish the best health on your friend who is " brilliant, funny, trustworthy and rich" ....and also overwaight, I'm not rude but why would you support this? (((( PLEASE, DO TELL))))))

Originally posted by Jeremiah65
Maybe the obvious question is the one no one seems to ask...Why are so many adults and children obese? Percentages are astounding...and they get worse depending on where you are. So what is the reason? Did suddenly all these people develop a gland disease? Those that had a gland disease used to be a very small percentage of the overweight...even when we weren't see such large numbers. Gland disease "used" to make up about 5% of the overweight. If that is the answer...

Now we have 30% obesity in some places...why is that? Are they all suffering from a glandular issue? If so, how did that happen? Is it something they are eating? Is it a toxin in the environment causing it? Why are we not actually asking the right questions and why are we not getting real answers to this "epidemic"...

Is it fear to ask about it? Too much controversy? Maybe someone doesn't want to answer that question for real "conspiracy" reasons. maybe there is a reason other than bad food choices and lack of exercise...

edit on 12/13/2012 by Jeremiah65 because: (no reason given)

I'm on the same page as you.

With so much crap being put in our food and now the new GM generation foods, the fact is we don't know what kind of a long term affect this is going to have on peoples health (Even the Scientists can't agree FOR SURE that it's totally safe). It could very well be the reason for the elevated numbers of people who are now Obese.
Who knows? The fact is we don't at this point.
You could be quite healthy and slim RIGHT NOW but there is no guarantee that will be the case a decade down the track or less. You might be of the percentage of people that GM modified foods will play havoc with. And it could take you years to get back to optimum health once you know what the actual problem is.
And while people keep clinging to the old stereotypes of the person stuffing their faces with crisps, cheetohs and pizza while sitting on the couch with the remote, then it's never going to be seriously discussed that a LOT of people don't fall into that stereotype.

I found that once I cut sugar out of my coffee, that the weight starting falling off without me having to do ANYTHING else.
I obviously had built up a tolerance to sugar that was affecting my weight. I was lucky and worked it out by accident.
I don't eat take away food, I don't do junk food and it annoyed me no end when people made these stupid assumptions that it's all FOOD related.

So unless people drop the prejudice and stop pigeon holing people when they have NO IDEA of their lifestyle or eating habits, or what is causing their weight problem, then the problem is never going to solved.

Originally posted by TiredofControlFreaks
reply to post by chasingbrahman

 

When it comes to natural behaviors and shunning - people are normally judged by their contribution to society. What kind of spouse they are, what kind of parent, is this a person who can be counted on, What kind of job do they have.

In the case of pot smokers, smokers, the obese, drinkers etc. it is a matter of someone coming up with a plan to IMPOSE a different and unnatural set of standards on society using propaganda.

Tired of Control Freaks

If you could give me driving directions to your planet, I'd love to come check the place out, maybe rent a spot and stay a while. It sounds like a really relaxing alternative to earth. Living somewhere that only judges people for their contributions to society would be awesome, not to mention how nice it would be to live somewhere that has nobody draining society.

Where I live, humans are vapidly social creatures who are hell-bent on getting what they want - regardless of the degree to which it's been earned - and continuing their bloodlines, prepared or not.

Originally posted by tothetenthpower
reply to post by PrplHrt

 

Sorry, it's not a conspiracy.

If you are obese, than you are unhealthy. Period.

I don't think it should be a qualification for President, other than how will you encourage a nation of healthy eaters if you yourself are not healthy?

How can you start helping America get off the sugar dealer and on to proper consumption and excercise if you yourself do you expouse those beliefs?

~Tenth

Please read in the voice of Daleks: "You-must-not-be-unhealthy-unhealthy-is-illegal-must-kill-all-unhealthy..."

You know what, if people are really unhealthy and die from their lifestyle then that is their right. If they don't die from it...good. I do not mind fat people, smokers, pot heads and I also don't mind sports people who break their legs, backs, pull ligaments etc. I don't even mind people who get treated after a car accident, having taken too many painkillers or fall over when putting their trousers on; and the list goes on.
And before anyone asks, no I don't mind paying for their treatment through taxes. After all, they are paying taxes too, Some more than others [smokers-thank you]. That is what the system is there for. In a way most things that need treatment are in one way or another self inflicted anyway [see examples above].


We are some specks on a fast rotating rock somewhere in space. Who actually cares what each individual speck does?
Where will this obsession about HAVING TO BE HEALTHY come from?
They say in the papers that high blood pressure is the biggest killer...eh "hello", in the end something that goes wrong will kill us. We will all die of something - fact.

Where will this obsession stop once everyone is slim, trim and fit? They will then come for the next freedom. Maybe it will be illegal to worry, get angry or laugh too much because lets face it, they raise your heart rate.
Maybe walking in the woods will be illegal because the path is uneven.
Do not laugh at these examples because they are just as viable as telling someone how much they can and can't eat.

I had absolutely enough of being forced to behave like a vegan, health-mad, goody-two-shoes idiot. I was born free, free to do, eat, drink and smoke whatever I feel makes me happy. I don't want to live until 80 if all I am allowed to do is eat wild rice and drink green tea.

Sod that and good luck to all fatties, smokers and all the others. Don't let the fanatic sheeple bring you down!

Originally posted by PrplHrt
Barbara Walters thinks Chris Christie is too fat to be president

There is a concerted effort by a specific segment of society to isolate and harass another segment of society based solely on their weight.

Chris Christie has been a high profile victim of this harassment. In her interview with him, Barbara Walters raised an issue completely irelevant to his ability to govern this country should Christie decide to run for the presidency in 2016 - his weight.

Christie's excess poundage has absolutely nothing to do with his fitness to run the United States. It doesn't hinder his ability to make command decisions or to move about the city, state or country he is in.

My best friend is overweight, FAT. My BF is also brilliant, funny, trustworthy and rich. Weight is irrelevant.

In my eyes, fat people rule. They are fighters despite what people think and say about them.

edit on 12/13/2012 by PrplHrt because: (no reason given)

edit on 12/13/2012 by PrplHrt because: Edited the thread title

I don't think that's it. It is the usual left identity politics. If Christie was a liberal, Walters would be angry at anyone who criticized his weight. Notice how the left never says meanthings about Mike Moore's weight, for example.

Regarding politicians and fatness: It's funny how in the run up to the elections members of what now make-up Britain's coalition cabinet took great pains to appear as fit, healthy, dynamic go-getters. Plenty of photo opportunities running/jogging/&c.

It's funny how, 12 months in, they were looking bloated and unhealthy.

I think most people could look fit for the duration of an election campaign if they had access to personal trainers, chefs and the like.

reply to post by chasingbrahman


I don't know how old you are but it existed on this planet and in this society. It existed at a time when minding your neighbours business was considered rude.

Of course that was before the UN partnered up with Big Pharma to identify health issues (for which Big Pharma coincidently had the "cure").

It existed before the UN jigged the measurement of obesity by changing the BMI (pre-1998).

www.washingtonpost.com...

That was the same day that 29 million Americans became "overwieght" and unfit.

It existed before the words "premature death" came into common usage. Baby Boomers who were predicted to die at about age 66 when they were born but not live into their 70s and 80s. However, if they smoke, or are overwieght - they are described as having died a "premature death"

It existed before NGOs discovered that there was billions of dollars to be made in denormalizing large sections of the population and before governments learned that discrimination would bring them extra tax dollars and reason to intrude on the rights of private citizens.

Tired of Control Freaks

reply to post by TiredofControlFreaks


It also existed prior to the time when public health concerned itself with sanitation and infectious diseases. Now that such problems are not so prominant, public health as expanded its mandate into private health to justify their existance and salaries.

It also existed before the rise of pseudo-scientists who earn billions conducting worthless studies of little value that can still be turned into startling headlines.

Tired of Control Freaks

I was very overweight as a kid. Now I am in good shape as an adult so I've seen both sides. While I don't agree it is okay to discriminate against people, no one should encourage a lifestyle that leads to unhealthy behavior. Whether it is over-indulgence with alcohol, drugs, smoking or food, if you support people in their bad habits to the point it affects their health, you are not being a good friend/partner/family member. And sorry, most overweight people DO NOT have a thyroid issue or whatever other excuse you want to use. They are just overweight. While it can be hard to lose weight, it is very doable.

In regards to smoking, I don't smoke. However, I've been a bartender for over 12 years and the first 6 years they allowed smoking in the place I work. After they banned it in doors, within months I was breathing better, felt better, didn't go home with sore throats every night, and didn't smell like an ashtray. So yeah, smoking next to someone can seriously affect their health. You can eat all the cheeseburgers you want sitting next to someone and you won't affect their health. Not the same thing. Smoking bans aren't to hurt smokers either, it's to help non smokers who don't want to have that crap around them and on their clothes. It also saves money for businesses as they don't have to scrub walls, cabinets, and other things in the room on a regular basis. If you smoke or are around a place with smokers, take a white dish rag, get it wet, and start wiping down cabinet doors or walls. You'll see how much tar is on EVERYTHING in that place. It's disgusting. I 100% support peoples choice to smoke, but not around me.

- Dredge

reply to post by Dredge


I don't like loud music. It damages hearing and affects blood pressure, I demand that music be banned in all restaurants and bars to protect my health.


If smokers (who supposedly have lower IQs than never-smokers) can read a sign that says "no smoking", why can't never-smokers read the sign that says "smoking allowed".

Is it really necessary for every private hospitality sector facility to cater only to your tastes and no one else's? Is it really necessary for smoker's to be denied their right to assembly for peaceful purposes granted under the constitution?

Is it really all about you, Dredge? And that is what comes of campaigns of denormalization for fun and profit.

Tired of Control Freaks

After creating this thread I had to leave it on its own because I got so enraged by the rotten attitudes of the completely blind health freaks.

When did the obese stop being human beings to you? When did they become faceless? When did they become something for you to make light of, to point fingers at, to judge as less worthy because they weigh more than they should?

I can't find the words to express my deep deep disgust and loathing for those here who think that Chris Christie, or anyone else, has to be slim to be a leader or successful. You are the cancer that is eating away at what is left of the real America.

You don't deserve your citizenship or the freedoms that come with it.

Benjamin Franklin was fat and bacchanalian. Was he stupid? Did he lack leadership skills? Did he lack the fortitude or energy to accomplish anything?

No. He was one of the founders of a great nation whose legacy is now being squandered by small-minded bigots who can't see past bad packaging, who refuse to see the gift within.

I will continue to defend the fat. They are human beings under that robe, mostly sad and for a reason. I will not abandon them as some of you have because I feel obligated to protect. I did it for a living and I continue to do it because it is in my heart.

To those who slam the obese, I wish you could see how repulsive you are. It's something you subject the obese to every day.

Which of you is truly the ugly one? I think it's pretty clear it isn't the overweight.

reply to post by PrplHrt


Quite disgusting, isn't it?

But it really isn't their fault. Some people know how to think and some people have their thoughts molded by others.

www.cato.org...

Tired of Control Freaks

reply to post by littled16


I understand exactly how you feel.I had seriously injured my right
leg in a accident at home.It had taken over two years for my leg to
heal.I was very limited in my mobility and I gained weight.When I first
joined ATS,I was still walking with a limp.

reply to post by TiredofControlFreaks

It's difficult, very difficult, to watch the death of my country occurring in this way. I knew her when I could leave the keys in the ignition and didn't have to worry someone would steal the car.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think she would die this way, under the yoke of calculated stupidity and group-think.

I feel a profound emptiness and sense of loss, as if a good friend has been murdered.

Originally posted by burdman30ott6
reply to post by Bluesma

 

That's a concept called personal responsibility and, regardless of how many immature, irresponsible dependents America may currently have whining their way through life, I refuse to call personal responsibility dead.

Bravo. Impersonal irresponsibility is what the whining masses want. A hand to feed them, a hand to wipe their bum and a hand to hold them down.

Originally posted by 12m8keall2c
Not sure about any sort of 'conspiracy against 'fat people'', But, after having watched the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show the other night, i not only believe but am also convinced there is a concerted effort, among those with the wealth, position and power to effect such, to ingrain in the minds of the public that 'health and beauty' are but mere skeletal bodies being paraded around a stage, scantily-clad in little more than 'fashionable' doilies.

with the majority qualifying as anorexic by most accepted medical standards. :shk:

put a little meat on them bones, gals.

edit on 12/13/2012 by 12m8keall2c because: (no reason given)

That isn't a conspiracy, women love that crap. As I woman I have no problem saying they do. Well...I don't like making it racial but most Black women don't tend to share that view as being bigger is actually considered better in their community (don't believe me? just compare the Victoria's secret catalog to an issue of King sometime). I don't fault anyone for that but women. If women didn't buy it then VS wouldn't sell it.

As for the OP: I'm sorry, you are a fighting a battle you can't win. I'm overweight, I know what people think when they look at me. When I'm 130 they treat me a lot nicer. It's human nature, humans don't find obese people attractive for the most part. Comparing another century to this one isn't going to work. Politicians are on TV constantly. We live in an image driven society. Most people here are overweight, but that doesn't stop them from being vain. Who knows though, it might not matter really if the Democrats run someone who can't win anyway. I suspect Christie will lose quite a bit of weight if he is serious about a 2016 run.

reply to post by mamabeth
I'm happy to hear that your leg has healed mamabeth. My recovery has been very slow as I refused surgery on my neck. I was on steroids for a while but have been using techniques I learned in physical therapy which is a much slower process. I can do a lot more now, but still have much pain (I do not take pain meds- made my brain fuzzy] and sometimes my whole arm and shoulder still go completely numb- always at the most inopportune times!

reply to post by antonia

You're right, of course, but I continue to be utterly disgusted with humanity for this attitude.

I wonder what the Samoans make of this BS.