The obesity "epidemic"

[supergee]

As Thomas Szasz said, an epidemic is something transmitted by germs or viruses. When they tell you a kind of behavior is epidemic, they're trying to control you.

Comments

Re: The obesity "epidemic"

[piranha]

hm. that's an interesting statement. i don't think i necessarily disagree with it. i definitely agree with it in this context. but is the control always bad? there's a rape epidemic, and damn straight, i want to control the rapists, and nobody will convince me that that's a bad idea.

so i think one needs to dig deeper than the pithy statement.

Re: The obesity "epidemic"

[supergee]

I agree that there's a lot of rape and that it should be controlled. I don't think it's spread by contact, so I wouldn't use the term "epidemic."

Re: The obesity "epidemic"

[purpletigron]

I think it can be applied to medical 'disorders' as well as diseases, which may have non-infectious (e.g. environmental) causes.