There's something about a food that moves all by itself that gives me the heebie-jeebies.

Joyce ,'Never Leave Me'


Spike's Bitches 44: It's about the rules having changed.  

[NAFDA] Spike-centric discussion. Lusty, lewd (only occasionally crude), risqué (and frisqué), bawdy (Oh, lawdy!), flirty ('cuz we're purty), raunchy talk inside. Caveat lector.


DavidS - Apr 10, 2009 8:39:16 am PDT #6318 of 30000
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

Not really. It punishes people who are ill, and I have a problem with shaming, say, cancer patients for their lack of virtue.

I don't really see that dynamic. I see the emphasis on "healthy choices." Exercise, eating right, not smoking. I agree that all three of those things should be pushed over 18 hour World of Warcraft sessions, double-stuffed pizzas and Joe Camel.

The virtue is not health itself, but doing things which promote health.


Scrappy - Apr 10, 2009 8:43:15 am PDT #6319 of 30000
Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

I think there must be a way of making health into a virtue without punishing people who aren't healthy, I just don't thik we are there yet. Skinny=Healthy is false and does no one any good. Maybe if we could concentrate on behaviors rather than overall looks it would help, such as programs in place now publicising the dangers of smoking or educating immigrant parents about the dangers of juvenile diabetes. Making sure pregnant women get their folic acid or whatever.


Nora Deirdre - Apr 10, 2009 8:45:04 am PDT #6320 of 30000
I’m responsible for my own happiness? I can’t even be responsible for my own breakfast! (Bojack Horseman)

The virtue is not health itself, but doing things which promote health.

Meh. That's great as your own personal choice for yourself and to instill in your kids, but whatever, I think a person's personal choice is their own. Who the hell am I to decree that playing 18 hours of World of Warcraft is non-virtuous if it doesn't hurt anyone else and makes the person happy?

I mean, really.


DavidS - Apr 10, 2009 8:46:13 am PDT #6321 of 30000
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

Maybe if we could concentrate on behaviors rather than overall looks it would help, such as programs in place now publicising the dangers of smoking or educating immigrant parents about the dangers of juvenile diabetes. Making sure pregnant women get their folic acid or whatever.

You know what healthcare chagne would thrill me? Ff we adopted the French approach to pregnancy. Automatic, fully covered health care and counseling all the way through pregnancy and time off in the first couple years.

I'm not sure how much the anti-smoking campaign has worked. It's pretty aggressive in California and kind of obnoxious.


Shir - Apr 10, 2009 8:50:00 am PDT #6322 of 30000
"And that's why God Almighty gave us fire insurance and the public defender".

I think there must be a way of making health into a virtue without punishing people who aren't healthy, I just don't thik we are there yet.

Isn't this just a symptom? Any value that one's trying to promote comes on expense of other values. We don't live in a black and white world, but we do live in one who tries to sell people that it is one, and one set of values is better, universally, to all. Alternatives will always be tricky to handle, because they'll be seen as resistance.


Scrappy - Apr 10, 2009 8:50:48 am PDT #6323 of 30000
Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

Yeah, it is hard to know which programs actually work, is the problem. I don't mind if they are obnoxious, as long as they help people live longer, happier lives. The AIDS-prevention programs in the 80s and 90s were unavoidably all up in everyone's grill, but they did lead to a drop in transmission. They have discuvered that rates went up when more vigilant programs thought they were "done" and stopped the endless ads and billboards and outreach.


Polter-Cow - Apr 10, 2009 8:52:54 am PDT #6324 of 30000
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!

I am sure billytea saw this last year, but I just discovered the flying penguins.


Nora Deirdre - Apr 10, 2009 8:53:40 am PDT #6325 of 30000
I’m responsible for my own happiness? I can’t even be responsible for my own breakfast! (Bojack Horseman)

we do live in one who tries to sell people that it is one, and one set of values is better, universally, to all. Alternatives will always be tricky to handle, because they'll be seen as resistance.

INDEED. Well said.


DavidS - Apr 10, 2009 8:56:06 am PDT #6326 of 30000
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

Who the hell am I to decree that playing 18 hours of World of Warcraft is non-virtuous if it doesn't hurt anyone else and makes the person happy?

We're talking about societal values, not individual ones. I think Toddson's original point was asking about a shift in cultural values which overrated health to the detriment of civility.


Laga - Apr 10, 2009 8:57:27 am PDT #6327 of 30000
You should know I'm a big deal in the Resistance.

I think a lot of people believe fat is a lifestyle choice and that it is OK to discriminate (or at least make fun of people) based on their lifestyle choices. I believe many of these people feel the same way about homosexuality.