People come in all shapes and sizes, and I don’t think anyone should be discriminated against because of their weight. However, I’m really struggling with Governor Richardson’s latest “great” idea (subscription):
Gov. Bill Richardson said Wednesday that if elected president he will push for a federal law protecting obese Americans from workplace discrimination and vowed to use the power of the White House to “fight obesity every day.”
A large-framed former athlete who has admittedly battled his own weight problems, Richardson said the stigma of obesity is unfair.
“We must help people understand that obesity is a disease, not a behavior,” Richardson said. “Those of us who may be overweight or obese are not lazy or undisciplined. We cannot allow Americans to be taken in by the easy comfort of stereotypes.”
Ok, so if we follow this logic, that obesity is a disease, then apparently it must be contagious airborne disease because the article goes on to point out that:
According to the Centers for Disease Control, obesity among adults in the U.S. jumped from 15 percent in 1980 to nearly 32 percent in 2004.
Obesity is considered a leading cause of serious ailments, including heart disease, diabetes and strokes. Obesity in children is also increasing, according to CDC.
But wait, with a little bit of Wiki research it only gets better:
Approximately one-third of the adult population [in the United States] is obese and an additional third is overweight;[163] the obesity rate, the highest in the industrialized world, has more than doubled in the last quarter-century.[164]
Sorry folks, I’m not buying what the good Governor is selling. There may be a genetic disposition for some people to be obese, but that does not account for the soaring obesity numbers.
The problem is simple… we are becoming an ever more sedentary society that over consumes with little regard to the consequences. This is a problem that can only be fixed by taking personal responsibility for our actions. The sooner people realize that this, the better off we’ll all be.
Of course, Governor Richardson doesn’t see it that way. By his logic, we should reward the behavior, which is a contributing cause of the health care crisis, by offering universal health care to all Americans. This way you can pony up more in taxes to pay for your neighbors’ over indulgence.
Anyone still think this Governor Richardson is a conservative?