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1. 

   Karamel318
   Member

   This might be applicable more for those in the states,but many in other countries might have the same legislation going on: what do you think of sin taxes?

   I read this article in the paper about a junk food tax, and remembered the catastrophe that was for Maine.Trying to get more money for the state and curbing obesity don't seem like good goals to tie in together, and it doesn't really work at the latter.

   The whole idea behind a sin tax irritates me, but what do you think?I'm sure an argument could be made that we have a vested interest in our neighbor's health because we could be paying for their healthcare(which we do to some extent for the uninsured later on when they become ill from no preventive care), but I lean more towards the individual responsibility and think a sin tax is one step into the nanny state direction.

   Posted 2 years ago #
2. 

   Anonymous
   Unregistered

   Fast food is already expensive, but yes, some sort of tax should be used more and more. In Belgium tax on cigarettes went up too.

   I know their are a lot of discussions going on in the States, about medical care. I don't know why, I know Obama wants to change the system, but that's all I know.
   In Europe, atleast in Belgium, all working people have to give the State a certain amount of money, so if you go to doctors or hospitals you don't get poor, because the government pays a huge amount of it. Is it in the States the same? or what are the discussions about?

   Posted 2 years ago #
3. 

   Karamel318
   Member

   Obama wants to insure the uninsured,if you want the one sentence recap.

   Here people are privately insured, so you can shop around and buy your own or get insurance through your work.However, we do not have a public system like that here.If people go to the emergency rooms because they don't have medical insurance and they aren't required to pay, then the taxpayers end up paying for it and I believe premiums go up?

   Most Americans are worried about 1)having to pay for illegal immigrants in the newly proposed healthcare plan 2) waiting lists for procedures that are given to those in order of able to get the best use etc. 3) the cost

   And there are many others, but there are misconceptions and misunderstandings even with the three I listed.It is convoluted for people like me who aren't the brightest bulb in the box, but it doesn't help that the document is loooong.

   It is really such a volatile discussion over here.There are town hall meetings that have devolved into one side screaming matches. I try to educate myself but I don't feel as if I'm the person to adequately explain this debate.Naively I didn't care until I was off my father's military insurance and went to college, where my community college doesn't offer healthcare through them.

   Whew.

   Posted 2 years ago #
4. 

   Karamel318
   Member

   What do you think of Belgium's healthcare? And my dad lived in Belgium when he was a teenager- on an American base nearby.

   Posted 2 years ago #
5. 

   Anonymous
   Unregistered

   It's a good system. But afcourse, if you stay whole your life healthy you haved payed to much to the government. But you never know when you will get really sick. If you have to stay in hospital for 1/2 year or need a doctor every week to check things, then you will be glad some system like healthcare exists.

   Posted 2 years ago #
6. 

   Anonymous
   Unregistered

   So stupid, let people live there damn lives. It's like taxing cigarettes through the roof. If they want to smoke em, let em do it. they already pay more for insurance, and it doesn't help anyone but the state to charge more for em.

   Posted 2 years ago #
7. 

   Anonymous
   Unregistered

   Yes, but if they smoke heavily and comes in hospital with lung cancer then you also have to pay for it as non-smoker, because you pay monthly for healthcare to the goverment. Basicly the wrong people pay then; so a tax is a better idea: the people that use it, pay for it.
   Of course I know if you only smoke twice a week (not that often) then it's stupid..

   Posted 2 years ago #
8. 

   Tinct
   Member

   I think it's a great idea. Taxing junk food, in theory, could be a great way to stem our horrifying obesity rate.

   Posted 2 years ago #
9. 

   Anonymous
   Unregistered

   It's always difficult to make a choice. You help people with obesity to not buy junk food but you give people that want a fast meal (once a month) pay also much more. The same with the cigarrettes, like I told already in the above post(s)

   Posted 2 years ago #
10. 

    Karamel318
    Member

    But it's proven to not be effective.An example I read was that during the time the state of Maine enacted such a tax, the obesity rate nearly doubled(of course, correlation does not always mean causation).

    What I'm gleaning from different sources is that we can't compare it to the smoking tax,because it's different.Raise up price of smoking, some users quit.Raise tax on items like soda(which 2/3 of states have already done, and has little to no effect on weight fluctuation), people switch to sugar laden sports drinks etc. And what do you decide is junk food?

    What might be more effective is if prices of fruits and vegetables were lowered to make them more accessible to people who are low income or really,the average American.

    Posted 2 years ago #
11. 

    Anonymous
    Unregistered

    Naw, its a stupid idea. It wont solve anything, people want to do what they want. Taxing cigarettes unfortunately doesn't dissuade people from smoking at all, maybe 5%, if that. What it does do is force the people who make not a lot of money, pay a lot of money in cigarettes. It's 8 dollars for a pack of cigarettes in MA... I just don't want to see that happen with our right to buy the food we want. I mean, do you want to pay 8 dollars for a hamburger, 7 dollars for a coke?

    Posted 2 years ago #
12. 

    Anonymous
    Unregistered

    It's funny, people pay more to eat unhealthy. Fruit isn't expensive, not if you buy junk food every day, that's expensive!

    @vanquished:
    It's true, but then you could say that smoking is also your right. To be honest the government doesn't care about our health, the care about our money. The are searching for new ways, how to earn some extra cash to pay all the debts.

    Posted 2 years ago #
13. 

    Tinct
    Member

    I think shoving the nutritional info in people's faces is probably the only thing that will get them to start eating junk food with moderation. Some restaurants are already trying it out. Now that I've seen the nutritional info for a Big Mac, I can easily say I'll never eat another one unless I haven't had anything to eat all day. And I love me my Big Macs.

    Posted 2 years ago #
14. 

    Anonymous
    Unregistered

    It's really fat. The must stop commercials, it would help. I'm not saying all people who are fat are stupid, not at all, sometimes it's a disease! But if it's not, they are stupid, how can you do nothing if you weight is over 130kg... Look on all the opportunities you loose: no normal walking, your health, your kids health, being exhousted every 30 minutes you do something, be ugly, die early, etc. I mean, do you want give up all these things just for food that you don't need?

    Posted 2 years ago #
15. 

    Tinct
    Member

    The problem is not necessarily the individual; it's more rooted in modern society. The very nature of scientific and technological progress is so people can do less work and reap more benefits (industrialization) as well as to make our lives easier and more efficient (microwaves, processed food, etc.) Basically, it's all about getting more done in less time.

    Some people have completely surrendered themselves to this idea that everything in life should be fast, easy, and efficient, i.e. technological progress. This is a human fabrication and therefore artificial, alien to our bodies. The human body is not meant to sit on an EZ-Boy for 8 hours a day and stare at a flickering screen. Nor was it meant to ingest crap like Snickers bars and Wendy's on a regular basis.

    Posted 2 years ago #
16. 

    Tinct
    Member

    The reason you never see ballooned animals stumbling around in the wild, like you see humans in the mall, is because physical exertion is a necessity in order to be able to find food. Once, before we evolved, we were the same way. A lot of animals in the wild look underfed and ragged, which is why they're always on the hunt for food, which is why they're always in shape (somewhat), and which is why they're rarely ever fat.

    Once you eliminate the necessity for physical activity, though, and perpetuate or even increase the amount of food one takes in, weight gain is inevitable. The only thing keeping most people in shape is that they make the effort to engage in some kind of physical activity. The really lucky ones have the metabolism of a wood chipper.

    Posted 2 years ago #
17. 

    Tinct
    Member

    This is why I believe obesity is a sickness of the mind and not the body. Obese people, in most cases, don't have enough motivation to go out and exert themselves in some way. Because of the values they've been raised on (everything in life should be fast, easy, and efficient) they're content to stay dangerously overweight and miss out on many of life's pleasures. Because diet and exercise do not yield immediate results and they're certainly not easy.

    Posted 2 years ago #
18. 

    Anonymous
    Unregistered

    Diet isn't helping from the very first minute, just like becoming fat isn't going to happen in a minute.
    By the way, why do post 3 times after each other? There is a edit button, if you forgot sometihng.

    Posted 2 years ago #
19. 

    Anonymous
    Unregistered

    This might be applicable more for those in the states,but many in other countries might have the same legislation going on: what do you think of sin taxes?

    Posted 2 years ago #

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