In Re: Moral Failings and Public Policy

Notes

This is a written response to Doug Masson at www.masson.us and his recent blog entitled “Moral Failings and Public Policy. He said:

One thing I have concluded is that I believe in the value of personal responsibility but I am suspicious when the need for personal responsibility is cited in policy discussions. When “personal responsibility” comes up in policy discussions, all too often it’s a sort of code for “let’s do nothing, ignore the structural problems, and maybe yell at people to work harder.” Among other problems, this approach simply doesn’t fix what’s broken (you can read his full blog here)

Put simply, Masson goes on to argue that in some areas, we should look more to society, or as he says, “structural issues [that] stack the deck against healthy choices…” I won’t deny that we live in a “fast-food” culture. Research suggests that the number of fast food outlets has increased 400% since the 1970’s. We now know that children get an average of 10% of their energy source from fast foods directly. Young adults my age are no better. How many of us have used our slim budgets as an excuse for a ‘dollar-menu dinner’ at McDonalds? As of 2007, according to the CDC, our state had an obesity rate of nearly 30%! Gluttony is a raging battle we must continue to fight as a state and as a nation.

With that said, is gluttony the problem or a result? This past month, Dr. Orville Gilbert Brim published his long awaited book called “The Fame Motive,” which has challenged former notions of behavioral motivation and seeks to include “fame” in the framework of human social, physiological and psychological needs. Put simply, fame has become a motivating factor in the decisions that we make day-to-day. It’s no wonder we are bombarded by ads for Rogaine, plastic surgery, the latest styles, and so on. I think using McDonalds’ advertising techniques, corn starch’s addictive tendencies, and Little Debbie’s to frame the argument that the “structural issues” are stacked against us pales in comparison to using fame, pride, and acceptance to frame that same argument. The battle rages less with gluttony, and more in our minds.

Conservatives have been railed for decades as being intolerant, promoting ‘values’ based legislation rather than opening up society to do whatever pleases it. Obesity rates, and the general lack of health of the populace, are in large part due to a lack of values in America. It IS a choice that people are making to be unhealthy in a majority of the situations. It IS an issue of personal responsibility. Those choices have driven a marketplace of fast food, unhealthy living, and obesity as a result.

There are people out there who think it a sin to watch television. Some think it a sin to use electricity or own automobiles. Some extremists who claim Christ are militant racists that to this day work to realize their dream of white supremacy in the world. Even within my own church, there are likely families who allow their kids to watch ‘R’ rated movies, and others who won’t allow movie-going at all. We could find a little bit of sin in every single thing that we do, from television to booze. We typically handle these differences in opinion by not imposing our own personal virtue ethic on others in areas of day-to-day living. And this is where it’s gotten us.

I’m not advocating for the forced shut-down of McDonalds, the banning of Little Debbie’s, or closing Hometown Buffet on Sundays. I AM saying that these types of issues are the result of a lack of personal responsibility on the part of individuals. Nobody forced people to buy more house than they could afford. Nobody forced people to save at a negative rate for most of the past two decades. And nobody forces anyone to drive into McDonalds or buy Little Debbie’s. People do it because they want to do it. And it shouldn’t be the government’s responsibility to pay for those unhealthy lifestyle decisions. The government’s role should be to educate and advocate for healthy living. This is the true systemic cause of obesity: the government must spend more energy and money making clear the ramifications of certain decisions. If the message still is not heeded, why should the rest of us be held responsible?

Masson said it best towards the end of his post: “And, still, I raise an eyebrow when I see someone obviously suffering from their poor health lighting up a cigarette, eating the Twinkies, or sucking down the soda. I know they should be making different choices. They probably do too.”