Analysis Of What You Eat Is Your Business By Radley Balko

Radley Balko is the author of, “What you Eat is Your Business,” in this article he explains why he is against how much control the government is trying to exercise over the rising number of cases of obesity in the United States. Balko believes that the government is treating the American health problem all wrong. He states in his article," Your wellbeing, shape, and condition have increasingly been deemed matters of 'public health,' instead of matters of personal responsibility." (467) In order to better illustrate his point about government being too involved with what he believes is a private matter, he mentions politicians such as then Senator Clinton and President Bush, whom have taken up arms for the sake of public health. Balko asks the thought provoking question, "And if the

government is paying for my anti-cholesterol medication, what incentive is there for me to put down the cheeseburger?"(467) In addition, Balko also believes that insurance should be penalizing those with bad health and says that, "When money we spend on health care doesn’t belong to our employer or the government, but is money we could devote to our own retirement, we’re less likely to run to the doctor at the first sign of a cold." (469) Simply put, Balko is an advocate of being responsible for one’s health and that the government should only intervene to punish those who don’t take care of themselves as an incentive to do so.
Although his position on the matter of public health might seem heartless to most people, all he means is that people should be held liable for their own health rather than have the government involved and taking over the responsibility that he believes falls on to oneself.

However, he goes from one extreme, which is his view of the socialist public health, to another, his idea of health being completely one person's own responsibility. From a linear perspective his belief that good health should be rewarded and bad health punished makes sense, however he does not consider circumstances outside of the realm of a person's control. He does not take into account families in which children are born with defects who need health insurance, or victims of accidents of no fault of their own who can't afford their medical bills without that help. The reasoning behind Balko’s position is that since he believes that he is relatively healthy then why should he be forced to contribute to help those in need. Not once does he consider that he may be the one in desperate need someday. If he was to be put into a position where he needs to use his insurance, his arguments might have changed a

bit.
In conclusion, Radley Balko author of, “What you Eat is Your Business,” would like his readers to know that it is not the responsibility of the government to regulate what we eat and how much we eat in order to keep a healthy weight. He believes that the responsibility of what one is eating is, as the title of his article implies, “Your Business.” According to his article the only appropriate response to the obesity epidemic in the United States is for insurance companies and the government to take a step back and stop helping those in need so as to provide an incentive to lose weight and improve overall health. Although his argument may seem compelling and reasonable to those in standing with good health, Balko does not seem to care enough to even mention those suffering from conditions that have nothing to do with the amount of food they eat. His argument is only regarding those who have eaten their way to poor health.