Being a smoker i am charged a fee by my employer for muh benefits costs. I always make the comment that if we are to charge one group for preceived bad behavior, then surely we should have a BMI fee also. Periodically people will make comments about my smoking, usually around how its affecting my health. I typically reply with, "Youre right it is a bad habit that i chose to do. Thanks for pointing that out. Do you feel that the same should be said to overweight people?" To which there are a collection of responses, my favorite is that fat people cannot help it, its in their genes.
Edit: This is a great article, how policy is used to shape peoples behavior.
Thanks. And I couldn’t agree more about the obesity thing. It does seem to have permeated much of our culture insofar as being penalized for life style choices. Drive an SUV and not a Prius? Higher dmv fees. Don’t have kids in school? Still pay those taxes. Employee benefits for pregnancy? Inherently discriminatory toward males. Daycare services at place of employment? What services are offered in lieu if you don’t have children? Never paid a dime into social security, yet somehow receive SSI? I could go on, but it just pisses me off. As soon as it is legislated or regulated that I cannot do something that I already don’t do, it makes me want to go out and do it. What happened to the principle of just leaving people the fuck alone? Or personal responsibility? I detest this nanny state.
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