Pass the Krispy Kremes, Please!

Did you know that Pfizer forces pills down people’s throats, Smith & Wesson shoots people and General Dynamics wages war? Yep. Some regulation-loving, responsibility averse do-gooders allege that drug manufacturers are responsible for people’s addictions, firearms manufacturers are responsible for gun deaths and weapons manufacturers are responsible for wars. Law suits filed against companies like the ones mentioned have resulted in large awards for plaintiffs. Reference what happened to tobacco companies.

Do these people realize how stupid that is? Doesn’t someone have to pull a trigger? Doesn’t someone have to put the pills in his mouth and swallow? Doesn’t someone have to push a button to fire a missile? Could hot smoke from burning vegetation drawn deeply into your lungs possibly be harmful?

Today I caught the last few minutes of the Diane Rhem Show on NPR. The topic was “DNA Sequencing & Personal Genomics (http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2010-11-03/dna-sequencing-personal-genomics).” I didn’t hear the introduction of the guests, so I don’t know which one commented—I’m paraphrasing here—that driving home past 10 fast-food restaurants also put him at risk for obesity.

Now, I suppose that the comment was intended to discount to some extent the role of genetics in obesity, but it sounded as if the speaker were assigning some of the blame for obesity to fast-food restaurants. Indeed, some have alleged that MacDonald’s is a major cause of Americans’ obesity.

That is just anti-capitalist shite. If people didn’t want to buy Big Mac’s, there would be no MacDonalds. “Yes, your honor, I was driving home, minding my own business when Bojangles placed a tractor beam on my vehicle, pulled me in, restrained me, and forced me under threat of anorexia to gnaw all the meat off a fried-chicken leg.” “Well, yes, Judge, I admit, it was pretty tasty.”

Fast-food restaurants (and candy manufacturers, soft-drink companies and—yum!—Krispy Kreme) are not villains—they’re legal businesses that provide what people want, and people want them to the tune of billions of dollars a year.

If you’re overweight and have a grudge against MacDonalds and other fast-food purveyors, don’t eat biggie-sized double quarter pounders! Don’t buy a dozen Krispy Kremes and eat them all! Use your will power and exercise some self-restraint, and take some responsibility for your own actions.

Writing this post has made me pretty hungry. Excuse me please, while I get a cup of coffee and just a half-dozen Krispy Kremes.