Attacking Overweight People Different Than Cigarette Smokers

In a perfect world everyone would mind their own business and ignore the conduct of others, if that conduct did not harm them. Actually, minding ones own business is a way to keep your mental health in check and a smile on your face. Of course we do not live in a perfect world, so there are people that have as their number one goal in life stopping other people from doing activities that might be harmful. The first time that a group of people used their influence to control another group was with cigarette smoking. When I was growing up in the 1970's, cigarette smoking was everywhere and with the exception of a few people, no one ever said much about the practice of smoking in public. Around 20 years ago, the stop smoking movement began to gain traction and ever since that day there are fewer places for an ever smaller group of smokers to light up and get their nicotine fix.

Now with smoking almost banned from all pubic gathering places, the 'change crowd' has moved from smokers to the overweight and some of the same tactics are being used that were so successful in promoting anti-smoking laws around the country. In a perfect world, no one would smoke cigarettes and no one would be overweight. However, we don't live in a perfect world and one of the last real freedoms that Americans take pride in, personal choice, is being taken away by groups of people that do not believe people make good choices so they will try and impose their own under the cover of trying to help other people. Obesity has become a big problem in the United States over the years, but the decision to over eat is a personal choice. The so called 'food police' are now working with government officials to lower the obesity rate and the tactic these extreme groups will use should scare anyone that wants to choose what they put into their mouth.

The anti-smoking groups were successful because there was evidence that second hand smoke was dangerous to people. With this science in hand, these stop smoking groups were able to convince government at all levels that smoking was a public health hazard. The 'hook' the anti-obesity groups are using to force their agenda on the rest of us is different and it probably will not be as successful as the anti-smoking laws that came before. Anti-obesity groups are trying to use the rising cost of health insurance premiums and the fact that obese people have more health problems than the non obese as a rational for getting laws passed to control the eating habit of all Americans. I believe anti-obesity laws will have a difficult time passing around the country because unlike smoking, human beings must eat every day in order to survive. Most people love to eat and many of the things they choose to put into their mouth are not healthy if consumed in too great of a portion or at too frequent of intervals.

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