Nanny Staters vs Fat Acceptance Movement

Special to L. Neil Smith’s The Libertarian Enterprise

It’s amazing that we now have two factions on the left that oppose each other. First, you have the Nanny Staters on the left who are basically the Michael Bloomberg types that want to control whatever it is that we put into our own bodies, whether it’s tobacco, trans fat, salt or large sodas. In recent years we have seen the appearance of a movement that came right out of the Social Justice wing, known as Fat Acceptance, which I guess you could refer to as a Fat Pride movement.

I will start off by pointing out that I am not at all fond of Nanny Staters. I thought that it was ridiculous when they had to treat smokers like serial killers, whenever they wanted to light up in public. It’s not to say that there isn’t some truth to Secondhand smoke causing health problems down the road, but I don’t necessarily believe that people are dropping like flies as many of the anti-smoking organizations would have us believe. I also get annoyed when I hear some anti-smokers complain about smokers gathering around doorways or about the increasing number cigarette buts that they keep finding on the ground. Well, guess what guys? You are the ones who decided that people can no longer smoke indoors where they were given ash trays. I remember my mom telling me before she quit smoking, that the anti-smoking fanatics would probably line the smokers up against the wall and machine gun them all down, Saint Valentine’s Day style if they could. I also remember her predicting rather accurately that these fanatics wouldn’t stop with tobacco.

I remember seeing this old video from Reason TV that showed libertarian comedian, Drew Carrey lighting up in a bar to protest the anti-smoking ordinances that were passed in Los Angeles. He said that the people in New York would never tolerate anything like this to take place in their city. Oh, Drew. You couldn’t be more wrong. After the smoking bans, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his cronies in the City Council, took it upon themselves to ban trans-fat, salt from the tables of all the restaurants in the city limits and large sodas. Yet, this fascist stooge managed to serve three terms as mayor. Now I laugh every time I see the stereotypical image of the tough New Yorker grabbing his crotch and getting in the face of anybody who wants to start trouble. Apparently, these are the type of New Yorkers who left the city and never came back.

Their logic for wanting to limit our freedom of choice, makes me want to punch a hole in the wall. They say that since our healthcare is becoming more socialized, they now have the right to force people to make healthier decisions, since the public will be paying for their medical costs. Remember that somewhere between 50-70% of American people were opposed to having the government take over their healthcare when Obamacare was proposed? Yet Nanny Staters believe that it gives them the moral high-ground in deciding what we can or can’t put into our own bodies. To me that borderlines on Mafia logic, where they believe that the businesses operating on their turfs owe them protection money, whether those businesses asked for it or not. The only difference is that the Mafia for the most part will leave the business owners to their own devices as long as they can pay the fee.

Well, since I have nothing but absolute contempt for Nanny Staters that must mean that I am onboard with the Fat Acceptance Movement, right? Not so fast. Keep in my mind that this article is being written by someone who could definitely benefit from losing a few pounds, it would still be intellectually dishonest for me to endorse a movement that celebrates a lifestyle that is unhealthy. I am reminded of Nanny Stater, MeMe Roth who has appeared on shows such as Penn & Teller’s Bullshit and Stossel. As you can imagine by now, I don’t have much regard for this woman. She is snarky, arrogant and makes statements that are completely asinine. One of them being that she claims that she believes in libertarian principles, while in the same breath she said that we are forcing the government to intervene because of the unhealthy decisions we make. To me that’s like a mugger saying to his victim “Don’t make me shoot you.”

It pains me to admit it, but Roth is right about one thing. Obesity is not healthy. There is a reason why doctors are always on our backs about losing weight. Obesity does lead to several types of health problems down the road. I can’t argue with Roth or any of the Nanny Staters on that point. I can argue about the tactics that these people want to use, such as advocating for the same government who once labeled Ketchup as a vegetable to regulate our diets. Is it any wonder that we ended up with school cafeterias that served food that I wouldn’t feel comfortable dishing out to the vilest scum that occupy America’s prisons? I am also not a fan of fat shaming. I know some people think that it’s effective in encouraging people to lose weight, though it could actually backfire by making heavy people more depressed, which could end up making them want to eat even more. Personally, when I hear arrogant people like MeMe Roth try to fat shame someone, it makes me want to find a greasy hamburger that is about the size of a tire and gobble the thing down right in front of her snarky little face. Yet, she is right about obesity not being a good thing.