Aaaaand, there it is. If I disagree with a ruling, or with the politics of the president that appointed a judge that made a ruling, then the rulings are “illegitimate”.
In a world where you are the supreme ruler, then what you individually want matters. In our actual world, it’s more about what the society in general wants.
The only way to get rid of tax avoidance is to simply tax transactions, every time, for every person, on every transaction.
“Oh, that’s regressive” they will say.
Make it small per transaction. A rich person spending 100x what a normal person spends will pay 100x as much tax. A billionaire spending 10000x what a normal person spends will pay 10000x as much. And they will also be taxed if they borrow money (that’s a transaction) against assets so they don’t have to sell them.
And when someone inherits, that’s also a transaction. Money moves from one person to another. So that same tax applies.
Exercise all you want, but for most people, if you eat garbage food in large quantities, you will be overweight.
I am exactly the same, btw. Most of my family was overweight when I was growing up. I was a fat kid, all the way through high school. Since then, I have been exercising consistently for 40+ years. Lifting weights, bicycling, walking every day, etc. But I still need to not just eat everything I want or I will gain weight. I try to avoid junk food, fast food, eating out, MOST days. Personally, I do one “cheat day” per week (see Tim Ferris’ Slow Carb diet for roughly the idea, although I’m not militant about the foods he says are ok, etc.).
I’m around 20% bodyfat at 5’10” in my early 60s, so I could use to drop 5-10 pounds of fat. What boggles my mind is that everyone says I’m crazy to think I need to lose ANY weight. I’ve got clearly visible fat around my middle and other areas, even if I’m not “technically obese”. I don’t look great in most clothes. But compared to the typical person (my age or not), people think I’m in great shape.
I wouldn’t say what I do is incredibly hard. But it’s also not just “do whatever you want all the time”.
I wouldn’t say people are writing off “eliminating obesity as something purely cosmetic”. Being obese is way worse than just a cosmetic issue.
But a world where literally millions of people are on a “lifetime drug” to reduce their bodyweight seems to be exactly what the big pharmaceutical companies are hoping for. They will make tens of billions of dollars every year if this is the case. Hell, there are endless commercials where middlemen (e.g., Ro) are hyping these drugs, telling you they can get you prescriptions, etc. If there wasn’t HUGE money in it, this wouldn’t be the case.
Yes, there are some people who have medical conditions that make weight loss very difficult. And these drugs can be a literal lifesaver for them. But for every one of them, there are dozens and dozens (or more) who simply make bad choices about food and exercise. Things that, if changed, would lead to a lifetime of improved health without any of the concerns or side effects of taking a drug forever. Our culture seems to be evolving to where it’s perfectly acceptable to translate “this is not easy” to “I can’t possibly be expected to do this, no matter how good it would be for me."
I’ve been accused of “hating fat people” for this take, but it’s the furthest thing from the truth. I encourage people to actually change their lives in a sustainable, healthy way, because I care about them. It’s not about shaming them.
Can you be “healthi-ER” taking these drugs than if you don’t exercise and eat too much and too many awful foods? Sure. But I’d prefer to see them EVEN healthier by treating their bodies better in every single case where that’s possible.