Blog Stupid

It's about damn time! Finally, somebody (or, in this case, a governmental body) is forgoing political correctness and making people be responsible for their own health and well being. The troubling thing about this is that it is allowing government to meddle in our lives. While I think this is awesome because I hate people who turn being lazy into "victimhood," I hate more the idea of the government telling me what to eat, how to act, where to go, etc.

But, regardless, this makes me giggle a bit...

In an article on webMD, the State of Alabama is going to tack on a $25 fee to the monthly insurance premiums of employees who are obese or who otherwise practice unhealthy habits.

According to the CDC, in 2007, Alabama is the second fattest state in the Union, barely squeaking past Tennessee. Mississippi is the fattest, in case you were wondering. Wouldn't it be fun if the fattest state in the union was also the geographically fattest? Alaska is up there in the fat-people ranking, so that's kinda funny.

Anyway, if you're a company or a government and if your employees are eating like pigs and letting themselves go because they're either lazy, that sucks. But, then, the insurance company shouldn't have to pay for it. Like so many other stories, nowadays in our country, this shows that people need to go back to the good old-fashioned character ethic of personal responsibility. Not to say that everyone who is fat is lazy or irresponsible, of course. I am talking about those who just don't care that all that deep-fried food and no exercise are slowly killing them. Simple changes and choices would make their lives easier and more comfortable and they'd probably even live longer.

As for fat or unhealthy Alabama government employees, they have a year to pull their heads out of their butts and do something good for themselves. But, is it right for the government to track how people take care of themselves? Is it not a right of anyone in this country to sit on their lazy asses and become lumps of useless shit? I say, in the interested of upholding what our founding fathers thought were the very core rights of being human, yes. It is up to the fat guy sitting on his couch watching TV choosing not to go ride a bike or go walking.

I also think that the company or organization that's paying a lot of money each year to perform work has say. It isn't any different than a drug test, at that point. If you work for a company, you are choosing to work there. The company has chosen you to work for them for a specific job. You have abilities that make you work well in that job for that company. It's a simple formula. So, the company is investing in your time for the benefit of their bottom line. If you are doing something that causes your productivity to eat away at the bottom line, the company has the right to complain and even do something about or, ultimately, fire you.

From the company's standpoint, you as an employee do not have a right to take the company's money and turn yourself into a useless pile of fat and then do nothing for them. But, if you've performed services for the company, the money is yours, so why can't you sit around and eat and be fat? Basically, it seems, the formula works fine until you screw it up. Then, you deserve to lose your job as much as the company deserves to kick your fat ass out. Or, in the case of Alabama, bring in a forklift operator and carry your fat ass out.

From the webMD article: "We certainly wouldn't support these kinds of punitive measures," says Jeffrey Levi, PhD, executive director of Trust for America's Health and associate professor of health policy at George Washington University School of Public Health. "The successful measures by health plans focus on incentives rather than punishment."

A professor from a university talking about incentives vs. punishment... That's just crazy. Talk to any honest parent who has tried that all-to-idiotic "time-out" program for their unruly children. I'm sorry, but when my dad spanked my butt for being a disrespectful little shit it worked plenty well and it pretty much worked once and for all. Had my parents put me in "time-out" (Ooooooooo! That's soooooo scary!!!), I would have giggled my time away until I was released to be a pain-in-the-arse again. What kinda of incentive to behave is just sitting there (on pause)? Seriously? I'm not sorry to say that sometimes incentives are CRAP. Bribing or coddling a person with something nice to prevent them from doing something negative doesn't ever work as well as kicking them in the ass or threatening to take something away from them. Look at the DUI laws: Drive drunk, lose your license. Simple. Effective, mostly (you do get those jackasses who drive [drunk] with or without a license). That bruise on the south forty makes a much better impression on the memory of a child than does a stupid piece of bubble gum. And for you child-pussifying psychologist out there, shut it! Bruises and scars toughen kids. Kisses and hugs and coddling with no scars and bruises gets you the generation we have now: Lazy, disrespectful, and entitled.

I'm going to McDonald's. This article has drained me.