Red meat tax

[AdamNichol]

BBC story:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46122227

No doubt a lot of wrangling online over this one, with passions aplenty on both sides. But there's a small matter in all these stories that irks me - when the proponents say "It will prevent X deaths". No it won't. It will delay X deaths, until those people die of something else instead

@PurpleDaisies
Pedantic, yes; but with a reason.

We are bombarded with all these messages saying doing this will kill you and eating that will kill you;, do this or you'll die early, blah blah blah.

We're all still going to die anyway. What troubles me is this all pervasive message that you need to constantly adapt your behaviour (and often buy the product being marketed) to 'avoid' death. How long until we hear that the stress over trying to wade thru the minefield of dietary rules becomes a cause of health problems and early death?

Fear is a good way of subtle manipulation. If you provide the messages, people start to rely upon you for direction. Terror makes people unpredictable, but drip fed constant anxiety makes people malleable. And whilst they're all fussing over the latest health scare, many many other things are being done quietly

It really does feel like this government is trying to kill off the poor with all its ridicules taxes. Maybe mps should be on minimum wage for a year see how they cope

A good government shouldn’t be infantilising it’s population to this degree. But given that the vast majority of brits take zero financial responsibility for their health I think it’s justified. If people don’t want their government telling them how to live their lives then they shouldn’t expect the government to help them out when their choices make them sick.

Most people assume because it's 'veggie' it's automatically healthier for you which isn't the case.
The fat and sugar content in popular vegetarian meals are very unhealthy

I don't eat much meat at all but I have to say I love a good steak and probably have one once a month. I feel amazing after I eat steak, I don't know what it is but it makes me feel full of energy and really happy.

Has the ship sailed on infantilism by govt?

People used to have to be self sufficient in a variety of ways that they no longer do. It only takes one generation for those skills to be lost. Simply stripping the support doesn't mean people automatically know how to step up again.
Threads from about a month ago over best before dates are perhaps a good illustration. In days of yore, you had to judge yourself if something was fit to eat. Now it has a date stamped on it (correct or unduly conservative - a debate for another day). Simply wiping off the dates won't mean people suddenly become self-sufficient in determining if the chicken has another day left in it.

We're being raised to be reliant and sheep-y (as sheepish means something else). But before the resistance can have any support, people need to be able to fill the void.

In the old days my mum knew our butcher and the trust was there.

In a world of bigger providers I can see a role for sell by dates (however trust in that system's still has to be there of course.)

System not system's.