Oreo cookies and the C word: Compassion
Just time for a personal rant about something I was just thinking about. America is suppose to be a free country, and it still is to a certain extent. Our freedoms are slowly being eroded each day and I think Oreo cookies will provide the perfect analogy for the point I wish to make. Several years ago we were bombarded about the long term health dangers of eating too many Oreos and that nasty trans fat inside them (at least the real Oreos). So a once iconic American snack, of sweet goodness, that was once passed on from fathers to their kids became taboo.
I think the people that started this whole anti-Oreo movement were the same people that labored for the last 15 years on the anti-Smoking laws, ordinances, bans and federal lawsuits against big tobacco. They just got bored having nothing left to glean from the profits of tobacco companies and moved on to the food companies.
Now this is how I see it, if a mother wants to give her little toddler Oreos in excess while he is growing and the little kid turns into a lard ass, well that is just simply a case of poor parenting. Not a case of Nabisco tying to slowly kill our babies off. So instead of changing what was not in need of changing, why couldn't they just find real jobs to make a living and pad their pockets.
Well, there reason is that all these kids are gonna grow up, be fat, need special health care that they can't afford and so then the US Government will have to foot the bill. That provides them the justification they need for their witch hunt and off they go. I am frankly surprised we still have any form of Oreo cookie still on the shelf, or that we are actually allowed to eat them in a public place.
Now, back to all the kids blessed with parents lacking common sense that grow up to need health care because of the cookies. If they grow up and can't afford to pay for the consequences of their eating behavior, and the parents can't pay for their health care either, why is it that the federal or state government feels it has to step in and save these people by paying such outrageous amounts of tax payer money to keep them going? Because 'we' need to have compassion on them, and make sure everyone has everything they need. We're compassionate! whoopie - give ourselves a pat on the back (and a cookie - Oreo if you like).
The fact is that whether its smoking, Oreos, McDonalds or any other ingestible item that causes a persons health to fail later in life - the blame and judgment should never be placed on the above stated items or the companies that make them. The blame and responsibility should be carried by the mouth that consumed them, and the authority that allowed the consumption (ie. parents).
As a compassionate conservative, I don't think we should just say, "We told you so, so deal with it." But at the same time, America can not afford to pay for every person's lack of self-control, self-discipline or common sense. It shouldn't take a degree to know that if you eat fast food all the time, you are not eating healthy.
And when the health risks catch up to you, it is not the responsibility of American taxpayers to pay for your carelessness. Now that may not sound very compassionate I know, but who is going to have compassion on American, the federal government, the state agencies and ultimately the healthy tax paying citizen, when America reaches the point of complete bankruptcy. We can't pay for the total abuse of the welfare system or disability and stay a free country. There will continue to be a suction by the compassionate liberals, to increase taxes, add more programs, penalize big companies (which in fact, hurts the American workforce and consumer, more than it will ever help the country), and continue to throw more money at a problem that only grows hungrier with each new meal.
If you can't accept responsibility for the consequences of your own actions, than perhaps you shouldn't be consuming with no form of moderation. If you are gonna do the crime, be prepared to do the time.
Think about it, try to see my perspective and than share yours.
Thanks for reading and have a great day! Peace