Public health

There’s a good article over on Dick Puddlecote’s  blog about those killjoys at Public health.

Here is one paragraph that the health zealots think of us, the great unwashed public.

“Lifestyle” is a loaded term that reinforces stereotypes about individuals and a world view that people are majorly or entirely responsible for their own health. Indeed surely the term “death style” would be better because the logical implication is that most individuals in our society are consciously choosing to lead unhealthy lives. Using such a term ignores the many and varied influences on health; the implicit assumption is that all is solved by developing an individual’s rational health decision making capacity.

Go and read Dick’s post. He makes the counter argument better than I ever could.

You have been warned.

Mission creep, or the domino effect.

An abridged list of policies that have been proposed in the name of ‘public health’ in recent months includes: minimum pricing for alcohol, plain packaging for tobacco, a 20 per cent tax on fizzy drinks, a fat tax, a sugar tax, a fine for not being a member of a gym, graphic warnings on bottles of alcohol, a tax on some foods, subsidies on other foods, a ban on the sale of hot food to children before 5pm, a ban on anyone born after the year 2000 ever buying tobacco, a ban on multi-bag packs of crisps, a ban on packed lunches, a complete ban on alcohol advertising, a ban on electronic cigarettes, a ban on menthol cigarettes, a ban on large servings of fizzy drinks, a ban on parents taking their kids to school by car, and a ban on advertising any product whatsoever to children.

An excellent article in the online journal, Spiked, written By Christopher Snowden on the slippery slope into more Public Health control of our lives.

Read the whole article HERE.