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Denmark has introduced what is believed to be the world's first fat tax - a surcharge on foods that are high in saturated fat.
It's happening, make no mistake. The same measures are being drawn up in localities across the US, as well as for such dastardly agents as sugar, caffeine, and a host of other evils. Tobacco isn't alone in this fight; it's an all-encompassing tirade against choice and personal responsibility. That being said, there are no easy answers--the common rebuttal being that the taxation will defray the cost of public health care.
Except the 'public entire health care' industry is as broken as our trust in government.
In the latest issue of Archives of Internal Medicine there's a widely-touted study linking the effects of caffeine to depression in women. Plausible? Maybe...until you read the trial conditions, which surveyed 50,000 women over a ten-year period, found a ~2% concurrence of heightened incidence of depression, yet took no other contributing factors into account. None whatsoever--employment status, relationship status, diet, life changes...nothing. It's the same ad-hoc science that attributes 3,000,000 annual deaths to smoking.
I'm wondering what it will take, what the tipping point will be, for the whole system to come crashing down. Will it be enough people eschewing the purchase of goods from legitimate sources in favor of the black, grey and green markets? Will it be a barrage of civil lawsuits that will cripple industry? Or will it be passive resistance until enough anger and disenfranchisement gives way to violent rebuttal? What exactly would it take for a politician to exist who did not rely on craven pandering from the statisticians andbenevolent contributors financiers of Government Incorporated? The course of history is much longer than a term in office, and the voice of the people is growing more disgruntled by the day.
Sorry, just had to get that off my chest.
It's happening, make no mistake. The same measures are being drawn up in localities across the US, as well as for such dastardly agents as sugar, caffeine, and a host of other evils. Tobacco isn't alone in this fight; it's an all-encompassing tirade against choice and personal responsibility. That being said, there are no easy answers--the common rebuttal being that the taxation will defray the cost of public health care.
Except the '
In the latest issue of Archives of Internal Medicine there's a widely-touted study linking the effects of caffeine to depression in women. Plausible? Maybe...until you read the trial conditions, which surveyed 50,000 women over a ten-year period, found a ~2% concurrence of heightened incidence of depression, yet took no other contributing factors into account. None whatsoever--employment status, relationship status, diet, life changes...nothing. It's the same ad-hoc science that attributes 3,000,000 annual deaths to smoking.
I'm wondering what it will take, what the tipping point will be, for the whole system to come crashing down. Will it be enough people eschewing the purchase of goods from legitimate sources in favor of the black, grey and green markets? Will it be a barrage of civil lawsuits that will cripple industry? Or will it be passive resistance until enough anger and disenfranchisement gives way to violent rebuttal? What exactly would it take for a politician to exist who did not rely on craven pandering from the statisticians and
Sorry, just had to get that off my chest.
