Time to use the mass media for the common good?
andre
Today’s mass media is full of articles on important subjects. Trans rights, racial discrimination, anthropogenic climate change, the virus (yes, corona virus, if you still remember it), hunger in Africa. All worthy themes for public discussions, my woke friends! After all, aren’t we all in favour of rights and in preserving the precious human lives? Yes we are, my bleeding heart comrades! But it seems to me, no one really cares about a rather substantial group of people, who keep suffering en mass, without anyone steering the faeces on their behalf, so to speak. I’m referring, of course, to the unhealthy golden billion.
It is no secret, that a substantial, i.e. more than 40% of the USA population are obese. In many other developed and still developing countries the figures (pun intended) are also large. I assume everyone knows, but let’s remind here anyway just a few of the major negative consequences for that part of the Americans, British, Mexicans etc. They are more prone to various diseases, such as diabetes, all sorts of heart conditions and strokes, joints problems, a variety of digestive illnesses. On average they suffer from lower self esteem. Their love/family life is usually not at good as they wished it was, since finding or keeping a partner becomes harder. We do live in the society, that considers fat people less attractive. For some even such banal things as an air flight becomes an ordeal, when they discover that the standard seats might be too narrow to accommodate their expanded torsos.
As I said, this is hardly the cutting edge of scientific medical discovery. All this has been well known and understood for decades, if not centuries. So, why talk about it now? Why rub salt in the greasy wounds? Well, the answer is simple - apparently, it’s the only way to bring forth a change in the modern stupid world!
Consider this - would anyone “stay home, stay safe”, unless the leftist BBC and other British media providers didn’t bombard the population with their scaremongering stories about COVID-19? Or would anyone even consider aiming for carbon-neutral future, unless some Swedish uneducated school drop-outs didn’t start shouting from the largest podiums on the planet, with complete complacency of the press, again, about it? More to the point, the media keeps writing about it, day in, day out. Whether it is doing any good in the long term is open to debate, but where it comes to the so called trans rights, the victory is clearly achieved. Not only is it acceptable to be a trans(anything) nowadays, it is often encouraged and often funded by the state! Climate change fight is also making solid gains, judging from the budgets ostensibly allocated to it.
Why, then, not to throw the same powerful machinery of public coercion and propaganda behind the worthy cause of making the population healthier? The benefits would be enormous! Just think about it, if we could bring down the USA’s 41% levels of obesity to, say, that of Japan, which is closer to 5%! Even if we are not that successful, and only 50% improvement is achieved, i.e. the Americans go from 41% of obese to 20%, that would be a huge reduction in the size of the collective bum! The staggering amount of money saved by the individuals and the state on treatments no longer necessary; the improvements in the quality of life and subjective satisfaction with it; the reduction in resource consumption - all would be gigantic!
How hard would it be, to stop being obese? Not easy, of course, but with the right public encouragement, daily reminders and practical advice, this would be very much within the grasp of many people. A small change in routine, such as walking to the store, rather than driving, can, applied over months, be all that is needed. Or some other moderate exercise, incorporated into the daily routine - such as doing light cardio, while watching ones’ favourite TV shows. Biking everywhere, for those who are up for a small adventure and want to have a slim waist. Of course, cutting down on calories in all forms would be a useful step. Here is my personal piece of advise, which is surprisingly effective - never buy desert for home! “Though shalt not have ice-cream in your freezer” works surprisingly well. This is not the same as never eating desert again. Instead, sweets simply should not be easily available. You want that ice-cream - walk to the store, buy one and eat it on the way home. If all you have in the fridge is relatively healthy stuff with low GI and not very high calorie density, then it will be quite difficult to munch on it non-stop.
And, my woke friends, think of all the additional benefits this would change. The healthier life style will inevitably reduce consumption in all areas. The dreaded carbon emissions will go down. Also, the medical expenditure will be lower, and the newly available funds will be available for better use. Win win win for all participants. Now, if only we could get BBC, CNN and the like to move their fat behinds!