Individuals Have To Do Something Too

If one reads the newspapers (editorials), one thinks that the whole purpose of society and life, is to get the federal government, the state government, or the county/city government to do something -- and there’s nothing individuals can do to make their lives better, individually, personally, and meaningfully.

The latest campaign they’ve embarked on is apparently to eradicate discrimination against obese people -- thinking somehow, that is the solution to obesity, out of shape people, and people making poor choices. The “solution” in these would-be social engineers minds, is that the recognition of a problem, is the problem, and if we pass strong enough laws against its recognition, everything will be hunky-dory -- in their world of opinion.

In this kind of parallel universe of reality, counties that cannot design and maintain roads properly for existent car traffic, are implored to provide separate bike lanes to make that infrequent traveler totally safe and optimized -- which of course can happen in the parallel reality of opinion for those who think that their obesity is everybody else's problem -- and not their own!

I think that is the crux of all our problems in Hawaii -- this evasion of personal responsibility and accountability, where even in the most personal and intimate areas of one’s existence, there are those wanting to pass invasive laws dictating all one’s thoughts and actions. Should individuals be allowed to decide for themselves that they would rather not be grossly overweight and out of shape -- because it is the intelligent choice to make, and not that it is just an arbitrary one that the politically correct police force (presumably newspaper personnel) will henceforth be empowered to enforce.

Fortunately, with the State of Hawaii’s emphasis on healthy living and lifestyles, I see a resurgence of walking, running, and biking -- that is no longer just my imagination. The turning point is that it is being taken up by middle-agers at a much more comfortable pace than the one prescribed by the fitness professionals as demanding total dedication and devotion to these activities as the top priority of one’s existence -- thereby condemning such efforts from the beginning.

Included in this more relaxed pace, without the obsession of heart rate, calories burned, sweat produced, and pain experienced, people are free to choose those activities that enhance their enjoyment of it -- as the most healthy reliable guide to the conduct of their lives.

I think the major problem of healthy living has been the fragmenting of it from the rest of one’s normal activities -- into a conditioning on how to be miserable, because it is good for you. People reliably can determine for themselves what is good for themselves -- without requiring an army of experts to run their lives for them.

That would be the healthy alternative -- rather than the appointment of the proper governmental Health Czar and tribunals the newspapers are advocating -- to enforce the politically correct view that one should not discriminate "fat" from "fit."