With a lot of focus on cost of living, it is inevitable that the focus will shift onto government expenditures. And of course, with less access to the corporate money and people earning relatively less to the inflation rate, governments themselves will look to save money, cutting back on even more services.
Pay more, get less.
People hate it when governments waste money, but also increasingly for taxpayers, how people rely on government spending. With all the social movements out there, I wonder how long people are going to "put up with" those who waste government resources in ways that are preventable. For instance, the headline below the image comes from Australia and talks about the burden of disease.
Every year in Australia, millions of years of healthy life are lost because of injury, illness or premature deaths. This loss of healthy life is called the ‘burden of disease’. Information on burden of disease and injuries is important for monitoring population health and provides an evidence base to inform health policy and service planning.
What is the "new" health crisis? Well, it is obesity of course. So, it isn't exactly new. While smoking apparently accounts for 7.6% of the burden in 2024, obesity is 8.3% of the burden. But it isn't just the death and millions of lost years that matter, there is also the cost to society for treatment and other social aspects. Many will argue that it is possible to be overweight and healthy, but is obesity ever healthy?
What they have done to reduce smoking in Australia is what is happening everywhere, raised taxes. They don't actually care about the health of people though, it is just to get more tax revenue to waste on other activities and expenditures. But for reference, about 72% of the cost of a cigarette packet in Australia is tax. A 20-pack of cigarette's in Australia is $40 AUD ($25 USD), so a pack a day smoker would spend $9125 on cigarettes, and pay $6570 of that in taxes.
Is there a tax on obesity?
Nope. There is support for it, if anything. While it is okay to tell a smoker to quit smoking and bring up how they are shortening their lives, how their insides are rotting, how they are costing the taxpayer in healthcare - it is probably a crime to tell someone that they should stop eating for much the same reasons.
Why is a preventable situation, so protected?
This isn't a dig at overweight people. Firstly, I am also overweight, though I am far from obese. I am not even interested in the choices people make for themselves, though I think that when parents feed their kids poorly and encourage obesity, it is a form of child abuse. The "don't know better" excuse just doesn't hold up in this anymore. What I am interested in however, is that as a society, we seem to keep avoiding the open conversations that matter, pretending that being obese is okay, that we should love ourselves, as we uncontrollably eat ourselves to death.
Taxing food doesn't help reduce obesity, it is just another revenue earner for governments that give the impression that they are doing something about it. They don't care - consumption of all forms is a money spinner, so as long as they can get a cut, they are all for people eating themselves to death. They don't care about the cost to society or the burden on healthcare systems, because that is just another place they can make more income, drive more business. Plus, it gives them more excuses to cut services from normal taxpayers, to move more wealth to those who use tax loopholes to pay less taxes.
There are lots of reasons to become overweight, and there are lots of reasons as to why it is so hard to lose weight. But, we shouldn't fool ourselves into believing that being obese is healthy for us. We shouldn't be tricked into thinking that it is okay to do nothing about it.
But of course, now that there is a very expensive set of pills on the market, obesity can finally be the circular economy they have always wanted, where people can keep on consuming, and then pay to reduce the effects of their inability to control themselves. It doesn't matter about all the other effects over eating has on the world and individuals, as long as they don't look fat, then that means all is okay.
As you can see, I am sceptical about many things, but I am pretty confident that no government or corporation gives a shit about the people they are paid to serve. I am confident that it doesn't really matter what others think of us, we should be okay with ourselves. But, "being okay" doesn't mean we should ignore our bad behaviours, even if we don't see them in the mirror each day. Maybe instead of just loving ourselves the way we are, we should also consider asking,
Do I feel good the way I am?
I can't say I do.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Our government subsidizes monocropping leaving the land barren of anything good that was ever present in the soil. Year after year the same crop on the same degraded land, depending on inputs from big agriculture to grow crops devoid of nutrition but brimming in agrichemicals needed to stave off pests and disease. This leads to folks gorging on foods that do not nourish the body and in fact, poisons it. They eat more and more and more, thinking they are still hungry and they are. In fact, they are starving for the nutrition that their bodies need. In comes the obesity in addition to many other maladies brought about by malnutrition. Those folks then head to the medical professionals...woohooo, where they are plied with lovely multicolored pills from big pharma, but only after going through the big insurance extortionists. Cradle to grave, from infant formula to pureed food for the elderly, being poisoned all the way.
Have you ever seen wealthy people who are obese? Not too many, and their kids don't generally have childhood obesity problems. I'm guessing that they can afford good food, real food, nutritious food that leaves them sated after eating a meal.
Best to grow as much of your own food as possible and buying straight from farms who grow more than one damn thing.
At least that's how I think this obesity epidemic started, but now, after many years it is the only way some people know how to eat and that's sad.
Taxes are the answer to everything nowadays it seems. Really looking forward to what DOGE can achieve in the US. Maybe it could have a ripple effect on other countries, although I doubt it will have any on the EU behemoth
More conditioning. More control.
I think it will. In general though, from what I have seen, the EU works better than the US in many respects - though it is heading down the US path of increasing the wealth gap.
It's definitely pretty funny how you can run into someone you haven't seen in a while now and you are like "oh, look at you, been hitting the wegovy huh? There are so many drawbacks to those drugs. My friend had to take them for diabetes and ended up with some major conditions. If I can't handle it the old fashioned way, then I'll just have to stay overweight I guess.
I am the same. From my experiences with medication, there are rarely more positives than negatives, so taking them for aesthetics seems stupid.
What I have also found interesting is that the people who were celebrated for and would talk about how they love being bigger, are now being attacked for being thinner.
Yes, that is a good point on both counts. I think a lot of it just has to do with how you achieved it. Even though it is more common, it's still seen as cheating a bit. I do think there are probably some people who need it and with the right supervision it probably works wonders for them. These celebrities who can afford to buy it over the counter and are taking it for vanity sake are just ridiculous.
Who cares us? Goverments, especially presidents, think there can't be saving from the reputation, but can be from our life and our future.
How popular is the president there? I don't think he is popular outside of the country.
Taxes, don’t get my started about it… we pay 53% income tax, then they tax everything to death which you want to buy with your remaining money!
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The first part was good.
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53 is crazy high. Where are you?
🇧🇪 Belgium
Why do Aussies have the best smile in the world?
Not sure about how great the smiles are in Australia these days. They can't afford to go to the dentist.
A similar tax to that applied in Australia is applied in Turkey. The tax on cigarettes and alcohol is quite high. It is said that taxes are high for your health, but the real aim is to increase tax revenue. However, they can find different solutions. For example, a quota can be applied for cigarette and alcohol purchases. A certain amount, a number quota can be imposed for weekly or monthly use. Maybe other solutions.
Have you seen support for obesity?
I agree that no government or corporation gives a sh*t about people they are paid to serve.