If you have kids and they are fat, who is to blame for it?
- Your kids for being little piggies?
- You, for allowing them to eat too much and not teaching them intelligent eating habits?
- Your TV set? Or
- All those fast food restaurants?
Most libertarians would say B, taking the blame on themselves because we believe parents are responsible for raising their children. Although if your kid is 24, lives at home, has no job, and spends all day playing video games, the answer is probably A.
The National Bureau Of Economic Research thinks the answer is a combination of C and D. In a government funded study, NBER determined that banning fast-food advertising on TV would reduce the incidence of childhood obesity by 18%. Boiled down, their conclusion is that your kids are great and you are a wonderful parent, it’s all the fault of those eeeevil fast food restaurants and their enablers, commercial television.
The Libertarian Party of Georgia is a political party, not a science lab. Although we are skeptical, we are prepared to accept NBER’s math and methodology. However, we reject the study’s attempt to deflect responsibility from the people whose job it is to do anything about this — parents and their kids — and instead blame the freedom of businesses to advertise legal products.
Libertarians believe it is up to you to eat well or badly (or get your kids to do likewise). Your freedom to control your eating must include the ability to have ice cream for breakfast and ding-dongs for dinner; otherwise you are not free. Mind you, the Libertarian Party of Georgia advises against such a diet, but we stand in opposition to anyone who wants to legislate that freedom away.
Although news reports say The National Bureau Of Economic Research “stopped short of advocating an advertising ban or eliminating the advertising (expense) tax deduction,” the abstract posted at the website of the
Journal Of Law & Economics which published the story proposes just that action.
Libertarians believe in small government, low taxes, individual freedom, and personal responsibility. We reject the idea that the state is superior to the individual, and therefore reject the notion that government should “protect” us by banning fast food advertising (or fast food restaurants, as Los Angeles has done; or foie gras, as Chicago did for a while; or salt, as New York City is considering). It is up to us to feed ourselves, and either enjoy the rewards of doing it well or suffer the consequences of doing it badly.
The Libertarian Party Of Georgia believes the cry “it’s for the children” is the excuse of authoritarian statists who think you are too stupid to use your freedom wisely — that is, too stupid to choose to do what they want you to do.
The purpose of government is to secure the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Let the National Bureau Of Economic Research add its voice to a public debate about eating properly, but Libertarians stand foresquare against the government settling the issue by legislation that limits our freedom.
