The thing is, once you take away all the industries thriving on selling products that damage/ruin lives, there's not really much left is there?
It's legal to sell fast food and junk food (crisps, fizzy drinks, chocolate, even juice) which in large contributes to the obesity epidemic. It's legal to sell alcohol, cigarettes and other addiction forming substances. It's legal to sell media like video games and TV shows which waste people's time and potential.
I live a 5 minute walk from a city centre with all sorts of shops. I walk past and think most of them offer little to negative benefit to people's lives.
That's a bit like what they call, arson, murder and jaywalking. When you mix together things that we need in moderation to live (food), things whose harmfulness is questionable (entertainment) with two of the biggest causes of ill health and misery - well, that makes alcohol and tobacco look far better than they are.
Not to let the fast food industry entirely off the hook, but alcohol, tobacco and gambling really are in a league of their own when it comes to profits being tied to harmful use.
Being overweight and obese are alongside alcohol and tobacco in the biggest causes of ill health and misery. In the UK 64% of the adult population are overweight/obese, in the states it's over 70% (if I remember correctly).
Alongside a myriad of other issues, the state of my countries national health cripples the healthcare system we have, which obstructs healthcare access even for those who live a healthier lifestyle.
One McDonalds Happy Meal isn't the same as one cigarette, but the much greater abundance of people who eat junk food as opposed to those that smoke or drink (both rapidly diminishing statistics) makes the food industry just as responsible, if not moreso.
Fast food and junk food companies sit on the sidelines providing all of the ammunition, while taking none of the responsibility. They'll do everything to keep their prices as low as possible, weaving their products into traditional life (chocolate Easter eggs, the abundance of chocolate at Christmas, a pack of crisps being a typical component of an office workers lunch) and oppose any taxes and regulation to obstruct their profits.
The most they do is to tell people to eat moderately, and link to a website that nobody will ever visit, but then they make their packaging appealing to children, hold prices low and have their products featured in grabbing distance at supermarket checkouts.
I'll admit entertainment isn't really on the same scope directly, but you still have people wrecking their lives by prioritising it over education/work. That can provide a serious knock-on effect to poverty and ill-health etc. Many video games and social network products (ie. TikTok) are designed especially to be addictive. The creators know their products are addictive, and don't hold responsibility for the impact that may have on a good proportion of their customers.
Being overweight is a status. Tobacco and alcohol are products. Alcohol also contributes considerably to obesity in itself.
I suppose you could limit it to "sugars" to get an apples to apples comparison. But even so, there's the fact that we do need (some) sugars to live, we can do completely without alcohol or tobacco. And sugar has other uses besides direct consumption, a lot of it goes to alcohol production for biofuels, as well as consumption. Sure the sugar industry causes a lot of harm, but they're not quite as dependent on misery for their profitability - and to the degree they are, it's actually also a lot through alcohol consumption.
Comments
The thing is, once you take away all the industries thriving on selling products that damage/ruin lives, there's not really much left is there?
It's legal to sell fast food and junk food (crisps, fizzy drinks, chocolate, even juice) which in large contributes to the obesity epidemic. It's legal to sell alcohol, cigarettes and other addiction forming substances. It's legal to sell media like video games and TV shows which waste people's time and potential.
I live a 5 minute walk from a city centre with all sorts of shops. I walk past and think most of them offer little to negative benefit to people's lives.
That's a bit like what they call, arson, murder and jaywalking. When you mix together things that we need in moderation to live (food), things whose harmfulness is questionable (entertainment) with two of the biggest causes of ill health and misery - well, that makes alcohol and tobacco look far better than they are.
Not to let the fast food industry entirely off the hook, but alcohol, tobacco and gambling really are in a league of their own when it comes to profits being tied to harmful use.
Being overweight and obese are alongside alcohol and tobacco in the biggest causes of ill health and misery. In the UK 64% of the adult population are overweight/obese, in the states it's over 70% (if I remember correctly).
Alongside a myriad of other issues, the state of my countries national health cripples the healthcare system we have, which obstructs healthcare access even for those who live a healthier lifestyle.
One McDonalds Happy Meal isn't the same as one cigarette, but the much greater abundance of people who eat junk food as opposed to those that smoke or drink (both rapidly diminishing statistics) makes the food industry just as responsible, if not moreso.
Fast food and junk food companies sit on the sidelines providing all of the ammunition, while taking none of the responsibility. They'll do everything to keep their prices as low as possible, weaving their products into traditional life (chocolate Easter eggs, the abundance of chocolate at Christmas, a pack of crisps being a typical component of an office workers lunch) and oppose any taxes and regulation to obstruct their profits.
The most they do is to tell people to eat moderately, and link to a website that nobody will ever visit, but then they make their packaging appealing to children, hold prices low and have their products featured in grabbing distance at supermarket checkouts.
I'll admit entertainment isn't really on the same scope directly, but you still have people wrecking their lives by prioritising it over education/work. That can provide a serious knock-on effect to poverty and ill-health etc. Many video games and social network products (ie. TikTok) are designed especially to be addictive. The creators know their products are addictive, and don't hold responsibility for the impact that may have on a good proportion of their customers.
Being overweight is a status. Tobacco and alcohol are products. Alcohol also contributes considerably to obesity in itself.
I suppose you could limit it to "sugars" to get an apples to apples comparison. But even so, there's the fact that we do need (some) sugars to live, we can do completely without alcohol or tobacco. And sugar has other uses besides direct consumption, a lot of it goes to alcohol production for biofuels, as well as consumption. Sure the sugar industry causes a lot of harm, but they're not quite as dependent on misery for their profitability - and to the degree they are, it's actually also a lot through alcohol consumption.