The government of a fat population is easy. Easier than governing a fit population ready to say no.
There was an article in the 19th February edition of the Guardian, under the headline ‘Government not interested in obesity fight.’
It reports that to Dr Tim Lobstein, director of policy and programs at the International Association for the Study of Obesity, claims that the government aren’t interested in fighting obesity in the population.
I think that’s wrong.
I think that the government are specifically interested in the obesity fight – they just don’t want to win it.
Why should they want to win it? Why should they have a healthy, active, and dissenting population when they can have a population that is fat, ill, and sluggish.
That is – fat from eating processed food, ill so they can be treated by a privatised health service, and sluggish so they won’t dissent.
There is statement in the Old Testament that sets out the obligation to build a fence around a flat roof. The idea is that it will save people coming to harm. It implies a relationship of responsibility between the owner of the building and any and all people who might be on the roof – even trespassers or thieves.
It is typical of the Old Testament to give a specific case that can be unpacked to describe a bigger idea. The Talmud does that, and what is being described is effectively the law of tort in the modern world.
Which is why it is so particularly egregious that the Government does not behave as though it had the welfare of the citizens it governs in mind when it all but encourages a fat population.