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OT: American Politics

MindzEye said:
Wifey and I have no children and aren't having them. Never have I complained about my taxes paying for the education of other people's children. If we finally implement socialized daycare, you won't hear a word from me about that either. The societal level benefits of programs like those are obvious and I'm happy to pay for them as long as they're managed as relatively well as governments are capable of.
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it's hard to function at a high level as a society when you don't care for the neediest among you. but try telling that to the bootstraps folks...
 
MindzEye said:
Sorry can't, your wife is getting your share as part of the student loan debt relief.

Listen, either pay a few bucks now to subsidize ozempic, or multiples of that later to pay for medicare/medicaid costs to treat obesity. How are you struggling with this after the student loan discussion from yesterday that you liked literally everything we said about it? It's the exact same logic. Pay less today for something beneficial to broader society so that you pay less later (in the case of higher education, you're paying less in policing, jails, treating drug abuse and alcoholism, etc....all of the things that higher education rates reduce significantly). You live in a society where inputs determine outputs and most of it is fairly straight forward with decades of data to lean on.
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The difference is that his wife had debt not that she was overweight.

That is the only difference.
 
People who join exclusive all white country clubs already get a tax credit related to the promotion of a "healthy lifestyle" . Funny how being rich to begin with is such a great predictor of health, huh?
 
worm said:
My great aunt got a note from the doctor so she didn't have to wear one when they became mandatory
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Like those antivax choades who tried to get medical exemptions for wearing masks during the lockdown and, when they learned that those aren't a real thing, just printed them up anyway.
 
Wayward DP said:
it's hard to function at a high level as a society when you don't care for the neediest among you. but try telling that to the bootstraps folks...
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If the richest country in human history can't look after its least fortunate citizens then it is a failed state. A country this rich shouldn't have a homeless issue. All it would take to fix this would be a tax system that makes the wealthy pay their fair share. Sure, you'd have a few less billionaires but I think we can survive that.
 
axlsalinger said:
Read the paragraph below, and tell me what response makes more sense.

(1) Diabetes and obesity are an epidemic. Nothing is working and the problem just keeps getting worse. Let's try something different.
(2) Losers eat too much derpa derpa derpa just eat less derpas, duh. It's not even 50% of the population yet, who cares?

hub.jhu.edu

The pros, cons, and unknowns of popular weight-loss drugs

Are in-demand drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy safe and effective? A Johns Hopkins expert explains
hub.jhu.edu hub.jhu.edu

"Nearly 42% of American adults were obese from 2017 to 2020, up from roughly 30% in 2000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. With that rise in obesity comes an increased risk for heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers."
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I do think there is a lot more that could be done to combat diabetes and obesity, beyond using weight loss pills.

Why don't we tax the bejesus out of junk food? And soda/pop?

We have a sin tax on smokes and alcohol, but not sugar?
 
MindzEye said:
Google scholar is your friend my brother:


View attachment 23112


The one bit of caution I have on this is how many people regain weight after going off of the drug but I think that's where working with your doctor to come off more gradually might be the way forward. Also, more research is needed on that phase of treatment to find out what the best way to end the treatment while avoiding weight gain is.
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yah so I think where I seem to be landing is that Ozempic etc. is not a panacea, but rather a tool that can be used in the toolkit to fight obesity and diabetes. likely a helpful and significant tool, it seems like.

but I don't think it will be a super effective tool unless other concurrent steps are taken to address the root causes of these crises. otherwise it's just an expensive but helpful bandaid
 
Preston said:
Plenty of drugs out there where you can legitimately argue the risk to reward and whether they are worthwhile. Ozempic is clear as day though. Anything with that level of success vs obesity needs to have gigantic, crippling health risks in order for it to not be worth it. I'm not sure why this is even a discussion tbh. The evidence is striking.
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why read pages of google scholar when I can just listen to dr. presto?
 
MindzEye said:
Sorry can't, your wife is getting your share as part of the student loan debt relief.

Listen, either pay a few bucks now to subsidize ozempic, or multiples of that later to pay for medicare/medicaid costs to treat obesity. How are you struggling with this after the student loan discussion from yesterday that you liked literally everything we said about it? It's the exact same logic. Pay less today for something beneficial to broader society so that you pay less later (in the case of higher education, you're paying less in policing, jails, treating drug abuse and alcoholism, etc....all of the things that higher education rates reduce significantly). You live in a society where inputs determine outputs and most of it is fairly straight forward with decades of data to lean on.
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FlyGuy doesn't need Ozempic himself though. nor does his wife. I think that's the main difference, unfortunately
 
worm said:
So more communism? What happened to freedom?

On a serious note the portion sizes at American restaurants are hilarious
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omg american portions are out of control.

I remember when I lived in DC, if we went out to a restaurant, I just started assuming that anything I ordered would be enough for dinner at the resto, and a full lunch the next day. craziness.
 
CH1 said:
I’m pretty thin and travel light, where the fuck is my permanent airfare discount

I never use parks for anything. I deserve a tax rebate.
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I know you're joking, but on this note, it drives me bonkers that I get punished for packing light when I travel by air, while other fucks who overpack are somehow entitled to more overhead bin space than me. I'm expected to be punished by sacrificing my leg room cause I know how to pack properly. infuriating.
 
Wayward DP said:
I do think there is a lot more that could be done to combat diabetes and obesity, beyond using weight loss pills.

Why don't we tax the bejesus out of junk food? And soda/pop?

We have a sin tax on smokes and alcohol, but not sugar?
Click to expand...

Not really sure the impact of sin tax in booze or smoking. The tax on sugar would increase food prices but that tax could pay for the pills, rec centres, etc
 
Wayward DP said:
I know you're joking, but on this note, it drives me bonkers that I get punished for packing light when I travel by air, while other fucks who overpack are somehow entitled to more overhead bin space than me. I'm expected to be punished by sacrificing my leg room cause I know how to pack properly. infuriating.
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I have had my luggage lost too many times. So I'm taking my shit with me, your leg room can piss off :p
 
worm said:
Not really sure the impact of sin tax in booze or smoking. The tax on sugar would increase food prices but that tax could pay for the pills, rec centres, etc
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ignoring any health impacts, the sin taxes generate revenue from the bad things that governments can use to offset the inevitable costs to the healthcare system
 
I’d imagine taxing some food that might be considered “junk food” might be pretty hard for poor people so I think it’d have to be thoughtfully done. I’ve lost a bunch of weight from counting calories before and it does get expensive to have a ton of fresh healthy food in my fridge all the time.
 
worm said:
Not really sure the impact of sin tax in booze or smoking. The tax on sugar would increase food prices but that tax could pay for the pills, rec centres, etc
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Yeah, if we want to put a sin tax on sugar and fat, and use that to subsidize healthier foods, gyms, and stuff like that, I'm for that as well. No reason you can't try to fight this from all angles. Let's at least start by killing the subsidies to the corn industry that's putting high-fructose sugar into everything.
 
Wayward DP said:
yah so I think where I seem to be landing is that Ozempic etc. is not a panacea, but rather a tool that can be used in the toolkit to fight obesity and diabetes. likely a helpful and significant tool, it seems like.

but I don't think it will be a super effective tool unless other concurrent steps are taken to address the root causes of these crises. otherwise it's just an expensive but helpful bandaid
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It's for sure a bandaid. But isn't that all medication?
 
hockeylover said:
I’d imagine taxing some food that might be considered “junk food” might be pretty hard for poor people so I think it’d have to be thoughtfully done. I’ve lost a bunch of weight from counting calories before and it does get expensive to have a ton of fresh healthy food in my fridge all the time.
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I generally agree here, but this is an example of the systemic problems in our food systems.

governments can and should try to make healthier foods cheaper to produce and purchase. it's absurd that the McDouble may be the most affordable and nutritious meal in America...
 
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