http://www.fathead-movie.com/index.php/2009/11/…

I am not for no-government. I just feel it is wise to be careful with how much control a few dozen men/woman and their lobbyist are allowed to dictate the direction of our life experience. Are government official any more responsible/health minded than the average general public mofo. Who will they get their advice from? Hopefully not Coke.

I see the two approaches as bottom-up (individuals making better choices) and top-down (government making choices for you or influencing your choices). In the end both will probably be required on some level to get where we want to go as a general population.

From personal experience, I know where my family's health has gone due to taking personal responsibility and expanding our own awareness versus waiting for the government. The prior has made 100% impact, the later 0%. Seriously. That doesn't mean the government couldn't easily decide to leave special interests behind and have a truly positive impact on health.

I just don't accept the idea on a personal level to wait for the government to tell me what to do (or create the change) so I don't become one of those statistics above. You can make the personal/family decision today to do the best of your ability to not be on that list…and then when the government rolls out additional programs to support that all the better. You as an individual must be engaged in the process and the sooner the better.

In the end, people will live the way they want to live. Choose your own adventure. Remember those books.

I love you man. :)

For the last umpteen years there's been a rash of vending machines and ice cream fountains in high schools and junior highs. The data says that schools that have this plethora of junk food have fatter kids. Now, while nobody would argue that those kids could simply choose to not eat that stuff, the point is that they _do_ eat that stuff. And we could soberly discuss how important it is for them to make good decisions, live mindfully, etc. etc. when the reality, when you zoom out, is very simple: take away the vending machines, the kids get thinner again. This is not a panacea, or a recipe for some newer, superior human being. It is a simple choice, with a consequence clear as clockwork: vending machines in, obesity up.

This is the crux of the point. We are talking statistical mechanics, not Newtonian mechanics. Large actions have effects on groups of people. We don't even need to talk about the individual in this analysis. It doesn't matter. The model of the individual at the center of the universe, the whole bundle of unique hopes and dreams and drives and whatever, it doesn't matter. What matters on the large scale is the law of large numbers. How do groups respond to stimuli. It might not be a comfortable way to think, but it's the rational way.

So, given that, which decisions do you want made? Because they will be made by somebody. This is what the 'small government' people can't seem to grasp and it annoys the shit out of me. If the government was eliminated entirely we wouldn't all join hands in a market-driven orgy of free consumer choice and clear thinking — if the government was eliminated the same thing would happen every time the government is eliminated, which is that other entities would rise up and fill the power vaccuum. Big business; organized crime; corrupt officials; neighborhood tough guys; protection rackets.

We do not face the choice between government or not. We face the choice of what kind of government it is, and who it's accountable to, and what we call it. Whether it's “The Government” or “Biblical Scholar” or “IBM” is an issue of semantic pattycake that nobody with any sense will entertain. And it is in this light that the decisions of these remote, far-off bodies matter; though how precisely they matter, how exactly the consequences might manifest if nutritional health (in the scientific sense of the term, not sense advocated by the corn/wheat/junk food lobbies) made a governmental priority the way, say, reducing tobacco consumption was a governmental priority (hint: it was an enormous, resounding success when measured any way you care to measure it) is the open question.

Another reason why taking personal responsibility for your health is a pretty good hedge. As will all things in life, there are no guarantees. Sometimes you can do everything you believe is right and sh!t happens. Such is the life experience.

I guess my personal concern is big government (very inefficient, corrupt on some levels) and the micro-managing of my life. Will the government really ever know what is best for me/you? This seems like a scary proposition in many ways.

Should the government stop manipulating and supporting manipulation of the “system” – yes. Should the government be pro-sh!t. Definitely not.

In my opinion there are very few factors larger than oneself that affects a person's individual choice. The buck (figuratively and literally) stops/starts with you. Who isn't surrounded by fast food these days? Yet, there are people that don't eat it or very little of it. Why is that?

You have two choices. Take personal responsibility for your life or give someone else that power. Most people have given it away and don't even realize it. Some don't want the responsibility. That doesn't mean you can't take it back, if you so choose.

If enough people stop buying “it”, they will stop creating “it”…eventually. The market will change.

Obviously some kind of change is coming through the government pipe and I am hopeful that it will be a step in the right direction. Is everyone going to be forced to eat fruits and vegetables, exercise, meditate/relax daily, manage stress levels, sleep eight hours a day, limit sugar intake, limit process food consumption, stop smoking, blah, blah blah. Of course not. And would we want that kind of mandate within our country?

The current health care system's primary involvement is sick-care. Obviously the current paradigm isn't working, yet we hold so strongly to it. This paradigm isn't sustainable so it will be forced to change. Somewhat uncertain is whether this change is occurring because the well (money) is running dry or that the current fairly restrictive system isn't very good at actual “health”-care or “sick”-care in many areas. (or both) The belief on this issue will be very important in guiding the immediate future of our healthcare system.

Why wait for tomorrow, when you can change your life today. Btw, tomorrow never comes.

In other words: yes, people make choices. But the choices they make are heavily skewed by factors larger than themselves. You can do a few tricks to get around this – being mindful of actions, for instances – but the law of large numbers wins out in the end. People are like elementary particles in that way, which is why the group that exerts influence over the environment in the large can have a lot to say about life in the small, lived by people.

You can't control (or at least not very well) how others live their lives but we can control our own. We can directly influence the direction of health in this country by how we live our own lives and where we spend our own money. What is the majority of your money supporting? Health or disease?

For those that have some understanding of what health means to them at this point in time – live it. Lip service only goes so far. Stop complaining about someone else to save you. Take some responsibility. Keep things simple, it really isn't all that complicated. No formulas or degrees are required. Sometimes we don't want to hear that. We like complexity…or the opportunity to feel helpless.

If you don't know what health is, start educating yourself. Find the most vibrant and healthy person you know and learn what they are doing. That is a great start. A hint: the person on a handful of pharmaceutical drugs is probably not the person to talk to.

Then ACT.

Listen. Observe. Grow (not around your waist).

Do this at a rate that is sustainable for you.

Health is extremely dynamic and involves much more than exercise and the food we eat. Think of your entire being. One part of self is not separated from the other.

I am also not even talking about being a “health saint” but putting what you do 'most of the time' in the direction of health. You can change your life.

But how many people really want to change their life? Be healthy? Or even be in control of it?

Trying to live a healthy lifestyle in this country is not easy or convenient…but can be done and is worth it.

Do expect the government to save us. It starts from within. Be it.