2 ms·
How are you measuring harm? By number of people who die? The cost to the healthcare system? If so I reckon the number of people suffering from diabetes vastly o
by nindalf 5y ago
How are you measuring harm? By number of people who die? The cost to the healthcare system? If so I reckon the number of people suffering from diabetes vastly outnumbers those suffering from cirrhosis of the liver. Treating these people costs a lot.
Certainly we should restrict access to sugar, or at least tax it. But in most places, such policies are non starters.
- skohan 5y agoYou may be right about the harm with sugar. I think it is probably way more toxic than we give it credit for, but it's difficult to imagine any kind of regulation around it since it's so ingrained in society. When NYC for example tried to tax sodas there was massive backlash. When a smoker gets lung cancer, we tend to blame tobacco, but when someone gets diabetes we blame the individual's lack of self control. That's probably not entirely justified given the addictive potential of refined sugar. But I think you're undercounting the harm caused by alcohol. There are diseases of abuse to consider, but the damage caused by alcohol is often more acute: traffic accidents and acts of violence are made much more likely by alcohol consumption. Similarly, I think the harm caused by social media is also under-counted. In it's current state, it seems to cause an increase in the spread of misinformation, and a decrease in political stability and social cohesion.