If you ever wonder, yes, sometimes it's very difficult to compose thoughts into a blog post. But.. not today. Today I'm furious, annoyed, and just.. opinionated. I watched this, but I'm not furious at it, kind of.. sort of.. well not at the little English dude. Just watch:
Done watching? Okay. Why am I furious? We live in the greatest society, arguably, to ever grace planet Earth. Our impoverished citizens live in more comfort than most nobility in the middle ages, hell let's make no mistake, than most other country in the world. We have beautiful homes, amazing technology, and have reached - to this point - the pinnacle of humanity.
But we're all dying. Fast.
We're dying because we have a healthcare system that is failing us. We have a healthcare system run by the robber barons of the 21st century, men and women who will stop at nothing to ensure their million dollar bonuses are safe, that the profits to their shareholders stay intact. They don't give a damn about you and me. We're customers, we're items on a balance sheet, and they have been posting record profits while we're all dying.
We're dying because we are fed food that isn't even food anymore. It's sustenance designed and chemically altered to make us want to buy more of it. Food grown on land no longer owned by the farmer, but owned by huge corporations, with seed that carries NDA's to even use it, genetically altered so that a plant - God's creation - somehow became owned by Man. Restaurants that have become corporations, no longer concerned about what's healthy but rather what tastes best, and what gets the consumer to come back.. until they too die.
We see television shows, pills, supplements, devices and gadgets all designed to help us lose weight, but they don't. Our hope plummets because society tells us these fancy gadgets and devices and supplements and fad diets are the only way to lose weight. We become derailed and do what everyone else does. We listen to the talking heads on TV who tell us healthcare reform is bad for America.
Dammit, STOP LISTENING! Jamie talks about angels walking the street, what concerns me isn't the angels walking the streets of earth. No, today the streets of heaven are crowded by angels, angels who gave up hope or just couldn't change. Angels who were denied care, who couldn't afford to go to the doctor, who couldn't afford to cook healthy meals, who didn't think change was possible. Today the streets of heaven are crowded, and I'm sick of it.
I've given up. I've fallen off the wagon. I've thought it's too hard. I've succumbed to the ease, convenience and "affordability" of fast food all in the past month. I'm sure I'll do it again, or maybe I won't. That's why I do this, that's why I write this. That's why I tell you when I fall off the wagon. I'm not superman, I'm far from it, I struggle with the same thing as everyone else does.
The only way that is going to change is if we change us, and the only way the world will change is if we change us. Healthcare companies stop making record profits if we stop having to go to the doctor every day. You'll start seeing healthy food at restaurants (real, truly healthy food) when that's what we as the consumer demand. We do live in the greatest country in the world, and we can all change this. Maybe we won't change it in time for our generation, but we can for our kids.
That is the one truly special thing we an do.
4 comments:
Oh wow! + like infinity! I couldn't have even come close to saying it half as well as you. And you know, food isn't the problem, its the crap that takes the place of food that we devour without hesitation thats the problem. Food + education, thats the cure.
Time to really sit down and plan the garden we always talked about when we first bought our house. Maybe nothing elaborate to start, but always something fresh, I think thats a good place to start.
So, where is the personal responsibility element of this? One is not forced to eat processed food. One is not forced to suck up sugar, despite the required food labels.
One is not forced to drive to the corner store.
Take charge. Michelle Obama is not going to save me, no matter how comforting that thought may be and despite what the video implies.
The only thing worse than poor personal choices are government dictated ones. It's the same government that came up with the food pyramid that has LOTS of carbs (sugar derivatives) in the fist place.
You want to be healthy? Take that responsibility and stop blaming others like the USG. They are part of the problem, not part of the solution.
Personal responsibility is part of it, but even the people with iron self-control are eating the same kinds of foods.
And people get SICK. They get cancer, they get epilepsy, they get injured, they get diabetes.
And they go bankrupt trying to pay for healthcare.
If you want to get really pissed off, read "The Omnivore's Dilemma." This crappy food is cheap, and some folks can't afford better. The arguments are circular, but it comes down to this: does having the best and greatest society mean having the best military, or taking care of our people by providing healthcare?
I vote for healthcare.
I come from the UK and have lived in the US for the last decade. It amazes me that the healthcare system is so corrupt and useless and that people are still mortally afraid of national healthcare. Hell in TN the psycho politicians are trying to pass a bill that will allow them to negate any national bill passed for national healthcare. WTF people cant you see that the system does not work. Any time that something is run for profit there is going to be issues. Fix joe blows medical issue and lose some profit or deny and keep profits up.....DENIED.
Yes we need to do something about it ourselves but what can we do about the money grabbing sychophants (sorry about spelling) when the burgers that you get at fast food restaraunts are cleaner and safer than the meat we buy for ourselves then there is a problem. when the meat we kill and pack for other countries is of a higher standard than ours then there is a problem. When you buy cans of veggie and its packed full of sugar to "add flavor" then there is a problem.
Its not going to change overnight but if we as consumers make a change perhaps through time the companies will realise this through declining profits. CSB you fall off the wagon occasionally, we all do but the trick is to dust yourself down and get back on it. It helps for me that my taste buds have changed and any time I eat a burger i am left with the taste of ass in my mouth (dont ask) so its easy for me to avoid. Also when I am getting my days worth of calories / fat and my weeks worth of sodium in one sitting I know I cant do it any more. MAking the change is hard and for people like us its alwas going to be hard. People tell me its a lifestyle change and once you go there you dont go back.. BULL its way to easy to drop back into old habbits. I keep a pic of the old me on the fridge and while Im not happy with how I look im happier that I no longer look like the blob I was. Cycling and eating are only part of the solution to becoming healthier and fitter. The major part has to be the mind. Until thats on board Forget it...
Wow I wrote more than I thought I would. Ok peace out.
Steve
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