lies myths and stupidity | Teen Ink

lies myths and stupidity

December 18, 2013
By Jake Fronk BRONZE, Hartland, Wisconsin
Jake Fronk BRONZE, Hartland, Wisconsin
2 articles 0 photos 0 comments

People should be accountable for their actions. Therefore I do not need the government telling me what I can and can’t eat! By telling us what we can and cannot do, the government is getting rid of our freedom to choose and have started turning this country to a communist environment. If I am overweight and happy the way I am, the government has no right to tell me how to live my life.


In “Myths, Lies, and Complete Stupidity” John Stossel explains how Europe has tried establishing a fat tax and how big of a failure that was. He also explains how even if the large soda option is banned, you can just buy two mediums to make up for not getting a large. Putting all these bans and taxes on our food is not going to create a “thinner America,” it’s just going to create a bunch of sneaky eaters. People will find ways of getting around these laws. Such as, before going out to eat, a person would pick up a two liter soda instead of buying the large soda the restaurant offers.


In Denmark, a fat tax was put into effect and once they saw it was not working, only one year later, the repealed it and deemed it a failure. Yet America is not learning from others mistakes and still wants to proceed with this bad idea even in the face of failure. In New York, this pandemic has already started to take aim. In New York it is unlawful to have more than 16oz of soda in one container. But people just buy two sodas because they cannot purchase a large, once again, being sneaky eaters.


The government has become increasingly nosey into the citizens business and it is not okay, from listening in on our phone conversations to now trying to control our food intake. The task of regulating our food intake is nigh impossible. There is a lot of government control in this country, but people will always figure out a way to get what they want. The government tries to regulate illegal drugs in the country, and yet people still get them. The government wants to regulate guns and take them away, yet criminals will still have them. Now the government wants to regulate food, and you guessed it: people will still get it.


By reading this paper I hope that you now have my point of view on this subject which in summary is the government should not be involved with my eating habits. If I feel that I need to make a change in my lifestyle, I will do it when I am ready to. Europe tried this a few years ago and it failed miserably, so what makes us think that it would work for us? Banning certain quantities of soda in restaurants is only taking away from the restaurant’s profits. A person could just go down to the grocery store and buy a two liter soda which is way more than a large soda from a restaurant.



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