What You Eat Is Your Business By Radley Balko Summary

Obese and Hungry for Change

Diet guru, Robert Atkins once said, “How much obesity has to be created in a single decade for people to realize that diet has to be responsible for it?”

In, “What You Eat Is Your Business,” Radley Balko argues that obesity is the responsibility of the individual, not the government; and because of that healthy people are overwhelmingly footing the bill for their unhealthy fellow citizens. He points an angry finger at the government and politicians who are turning our health care system into a failing socialist commodity, making obesity a matter of public health; and claims that your lack of personal responsibility is becoming a financial burden on healthy people. Because of that, we are becoming a conforming

society when it comes to government regulations. Radley states that because government is willing to pay for individuals’ medications as a consequence of unhealthy lifestyle choices, people are less motivated to eat and live right.

He believes that if people were held accountable for their eating habits, they would make smarter choices. THESIS STATEMENT HERE

Balko states that if the government keeps paying for people’s anti-cholesterol medication, “what incentive is there for them to put down the cheeseburger?” (467). He correctly hypothesizes that government intervention, which should be meant to stop obesity, is instead incentivizing it. The obesity epidemic in the United States is three decades old now, and there has been a big amount of investments made in clinical care, research, and in the creation of programs to fight obesity and obesity rates keep skyrocketing. I wish I could go back in time and tell Balko his predictions were right. If he believed there was little incentive to lose weight back then, there is even less incentive today. Now with the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, citizens are forced to purchase health insurance for themselves, but also for the “free riders” out there. I guess non-obese people is footing the bill for obese people. Folks, isn’t this “divide everyone” or the “I will give you of other people’s money” idea the epitome of socialism? Believe me; I know what I am talking about. I come from a

socialist country, I have lived it, and it does not work. When a government runs hospitals, clinics, and other health-care institutions, people get worse care for more money. Government action on “public health,” is often "justified" by the cost of the healthcare system, or better saying, the taxpayers. The government is not only very interested in keeping the status quo, but it keeps passing laws enabling corporate control of our plates. It’s clear that government doesn’t make money from healthy people. Balko doesn’t really offer any remedy to the problem. However, government policies controlling our lives is the last thing needed. What we need is better parenting, for example, less dining out, more time and thought put into our daily meals planning. Unfortunately, that's "too hard to do" because people keep expecting to be taken care of from the cradle to the grave and since government makes no money from healthy people, it takes advantage of that. Now with Obamacare, there is no need to balance our budget or our calories. Let's just consume, consume, consume without any worries. Aren't the bills paid for?
I agree with Balko when he says that government should not come “between you and your waistline” (466).

There is so much government could and should do. For instance, an article from US Today in 2003 states that “It costs about $1,400 more a year to treat an obese patient compared with a person at a healthy weight.” Fiscally responsible people are being punished by the benefit of the irresponsible, through government “enforced” redistribution. (Remember Obamacare?) It is not the government, insurance companies, or my job, for this instance, to fight and finance people’s “lack of control to stop ingesting fattening foods.” I understand obesity, for many individuals, is a deeper, more complex problem. However, laws are supposed to be passed to regulate government, not citizens. Intervening in the most fundamental and private aspects of our lives, even if there is some indirect social or financial cost, even if the reason is to finance the obese, is utterly wrong. Let’s say that the situation is, no different than safe drivers getting discounts and paying less than repeated DUI drivers and speeders. Take the risk, pay more. If health care costs are paid by themselves, people would think twice about their bills before carelessly eating too many

calories.
Throughout his essay, Radley’s argues that government should not be responsible for fighting obesity, instead people should take more responsibility for their well-being. Today, entire industries are built around public’s demand for healthy living, and because of that, Americans are already inundated with information about health and well-being. So why can’t we all go back to the age of personal responsibility? Let’s be honest here, the “it’s been a long day, and I am too tired to cook, and I am starving, so I am going to hit up the drive-thru because it’s the best and easiest option right now” excuse is getting old. In a country, like the United States, where a good number of people urgently needs to drop some pounds, it’s become an easy task to live large, which makes it harder to motivate individuals to take steps to lose weight. When obesity became a matter of “public health” (ADD), it became the “new normal.” Therefore, this generation is getting desensitized to the problem of obesity. Maybe Balko is harsh, but righteously so. If health care costs are the same for healthy and unhealthy people, fostering a healthy lifestyle is the least in people’s minds. Remember, when smoking was a cool habit? Yep, I remember! I can remember that smoking kills and yet, no one has a problem pointing it out. And that’s what Balko is trying to tell us: taking responsibility will give Americans the chance to address the issue of obesity finally. Now ask yourself: If people’s actions have no consequences, why would anyone do the right thing? I finish this paragraph making Balko’s words mine “It’s difficult to think of anything more private and of less public concern than what we choose to put into our bodies.”
Although Balko’s tone may be somewhat arrogant, I believe his essay was not necessarily written to inform, it was written more as “food for thought,” to make us question “Why can’t health be the forefront of our actions? Maybe I am more inclined to agree with him because I am lucky, maybe it’s because I feel the government is already too intrusive or maybe is the lack of compassion. But what I like about his article is his willingness to openly talk about a subject that should and hasn’t been adequately addressed. More importantly, is to recognize that after three decades, obesity is killing us more than ever and nothing seems to be working. Instead, we still keep asking what government should do: tax fast food? Candy? Soft drinks? Should the government regulate portion size? Of course not! Such ideas are not only ludicrous and completely unenforceable, but they are just simple tactics, not a strategy. I feel it is about time for an entirely different approach, one that emphasizes more on personal responsibility and less government intervention in our private lives. It’s time for Americans to have an open, honest conversation about fat people. Balko ends his essay by appealing to readers that people “make better choices” when it is they, themselves, who will “pay for the consequences of those choices.” Its time, it’s about time folks, to tip de scales against obesity and truly solve the problem. Otherwise, sooner than later we will realize that the “elephant in the room” isn’t a pachyderm at all. It’s the average American.