The dirty secret is that unhealthiness is demonized. Health has been adopted as a moral responsibility. You’re not supposed to say out loud that you smoke, dri

The dirty secret is that unhealthiness is demonized. Health has been adopted as a moral responsibility. You’re not supposed to say out loud that you smoke, drink, or overeat because you enjoy it and have accepted that you might live a less long life and/or one with greater medical needs. You’re supposed to say that you’re ashamed and you can’t help yourself and that you know you’re supposed to be healthy. This is the moral trap that makes people try very hard to find proof that X or Y is ultimately healthy. In Christian moral language, it’s like being handed a biblical passage that supports that thing you want to do. If being fat is healthy, you don’t have to wallow in shame, you just have to convince everyone that they misunderstand the facts. It’s hard to make social systems like universal healthcare work when people are openly and unrepentantly unhealthy, but the fact is that health is no more universal a form of piety than faith in some specific God. Some people will just want to eat a lot of ice cream and hamburgers because they’re yummy.