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Originally Posted by Shauk
While I am for people having assistance controlling their weight, I can see the slippery slope argument.
however, the grey becomes black and white rather quickly if you start asking fat people if they WANT to be fat.
not going to find a lot of support there.
however, if you try to compare it to something like smoking? yeah, people want to smoke, despite it driving up health costs, so theres no way you could convince people that businesses jumping in and throwing nico-gum/patches and whatever else is required to stop people from smoking would gain even remotely the same support as this.
so Yeah, I'm totally for this.
I think ths slippery slope argument is invalid in this particular case
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I wouldn't want Shauk to think this was ignored, so I'll go back and actually reply with what I was thinking when I read it.
The problem with this argument is that the very existence of obesity refutes it. Sure, nobody wants to be fat, but I would posit that someone who is fat isn't bothered enough by their condition to change it, or else they wouldn't be that way to begin with. Losing weight takes effort, but it's really quite simple, conceptually. Therefore anyone who is overweight is someone who is almost certainly someone who for whatever reason isn't willing to put in the effort; it seems absurd to me to think that it could be an issue of education.
I'm really not sure what food addiction has to do with anything. If someone has a serious psychological problem, then they need to be treated or seek treatment for that. On the other hand, if we take as granted that food addiction is a real issue for some people, then I should say that it's not particularly harmful from a societal standpoint. A food addict (or cigarette addict, for that matter) isn't someone who's likely to turn to crime or prostitution to feed their addiction, and it's possible for those who suffer from the addiction to be useful contributing members of society. It's a drain on the healthcare system, but then so is skin cancer and I don't see anyone suggesting government mandated sunblock.