Fat and stupid in America

[Synpax]

Norway, Bermuda, Iceland, New Zealand, etc - all countries that I have seen better attitudes in the people, and better overall general public health.

America is basically made of the rest of the world's refugees, so snottiness from old world, all-white nations (exception of Bermuda) is to be expected, just like that of the older brother at the younger sibling who exceeds him in life.

The only thing that matters are overall statistics - just seeing 'attitudes' personally is poor grounds for analysis. A lot of it depends on what part of the country you go to.

Also, with the exception of Bermuda, all of these countries lack the diversity of the US and the massive legal and illegal immigration of the US. That is a tremendous burden on the general public health. It's sort of like comparing Vermont to California.

Of course, the United States has both Vermont and California. There is nothing in those old world countries you can't find right here in some part of the US.

BTW - the only place I've found racist and snoti Americans has been in NYC/North Eastern/New England, and I'm from the poor South.

btw - 7% bf for the ad hominem obsessed.




Norway:

 

[atlantabiolab]

You win this weeks "Head so far up his ass you can tell what he had for breakfast from his ring around the collar" Award.

We have ZERO homeless, ZERO uninsured, ZERO kids shooting each other in school, 100% literacy, every product imaginable, and very robust economy with sustained (and may i say SUSTAINABLE) 6-7% growth.

OK, since I am amazed at your grasp of statistics (zero, huh? How is this determined statistically, pray tell?) I can tell that I am dealing with a genius here.

Seems to me personal success would be taking care of your HEALTHY family, past and present and future generations included, as opposed to the incredibly stupid "how many SUV's you dont need, how much McCrap you can eat and how many new inches you can add to your waistline" barometer that you use for measurement.

You summed it up, "seems to me". That is all you can say, since personal success is by definition "personal", so it matters not what your opinion on this is, it is up to the individual to decide what they value. This was the basis of my post, that subjective matters of life are not to be regulated as desired by the control freaks on this board, who feel that people should not have a choice in what car they drive, in what foods they eat, in their appearance, etc. It matters not that the appearance of another offends you, get over it and fast, for you have no control over the life of your neighbor. The amusing part is that many who have this opinion consider themselves "socially liberal" and use the label "fascist" in describing certain groups, yet feel perfectly OK to demonize and accept regulations on things they don't condone.

Not to mention, the very idea that the US somehow corners the market on stupidity and rudeness, is once more, ludicrous. You can find morons and assholes everywhere.

Stick that in your corncob pipe and smoke it, Buford.

Sorry, my pipe is already filled with a Twinkie and 10W 40 motor oil, that leaks from my SUV.

On a side note, but still related, because America has more choices than other countries, immigrants show the results of personal choice. Japanese women, who have traditionally low breast cancer rates, show increases in breast cancer rates once migrating to the US. Explanations tend to surround the protective effect of the traditional Japanese diet vs. the Westernized diet they adopt when they come to the US. While this is a personal harm, it shows that given a choice, since no one prevents a Japanese immigrant from eating their traditional diet, people will choose actions which may not promote a long life.

So, you have a decision to make, do you force people to live long lives, by restricting access to what can be shown to be healthy to them or allow them the pursuit of personal happiness, even if it means a reduced lifespan? What is more important, a long life with little opportunity or a shorter one with lots of choices, some of which are not beneficial long term?

 

[OMGWTFBBQ]

Who said anything about restricting access to what they eat?

Just because someone expresses an opinion that they dislike stupid fat people doesn't mean that they are also saying they feel those people should be kept from eating the way they do.

It is just an opinion expressing a disagreement with the way they live.

I don't agree with plenty of things that you say, but I've never said that you had to change them - THAT is what America has - freedom for people to do their thing.

And I have the freedom to be disgusted with how people choose to spend their freedom - I never said that they should be forced to change it.

That said, were they to all get together and watch an episode of Oprah and/or Dr. Phil that made up their mind for them to stop being useless consumers (which is a contradiction to the process by which Oprah and/or Dr. Phil works, but ignoring that), and they went on to do interesting things with their lives... well, I'd personally find that just dandy.

An interesting life is all relative, but I would be willing to bet that sitting in front of a TV while mashing a ho-ho into your face isn't considered all that interesting by the populace of the world. (the starving in Sudan very well find it fascinating)

In the end, I maintain that when someone says to me "America", I picture a fat pasty man and woman trying to park their Excursion that they can't afford closer to the doors of WalMart so that they don't have to walk as far to the door. In the little thought bubbles over their heads, I see images of Big Macs dancing jigs and the slightest bit of drool forming at the corner of their lips.
Oh, and these good people are of course God fearin' Christians that think war with Iraq is a dandy idea because he was the one that flew planes into our buildings in NYC.

That is my picture of America, even after living there for 26 years.

 

[SoloFlex]

On the whole fat people are usually jolly (happy) so I think that plays a big part.