3 ms·

So fluoridated water is mass medication because the alternatives are bottled or expensive, not pumped into the house, and salt is non-mass medication even thoug

So fluoridated water is mass medication because the alternatives are bottled or expensive, not pumped into the house, and salt is non-mass medication even though its “natural”-marketed alternatives are more expensive too. I guess milk and grains (vitamin D and folate added) are just normal non-mass medicated foods too given that they aren’t pumped into the house like water either? Or is it mass medication in the grains case because the FDA requires folic acid to be added? This is starting to sound real silly.

kelseyfrog 2y ago
Social categories cannot be both comprehensive and consistent and you're asking for both.
- hombre_fatal 2y ago
  I'm asking for consistency from one person.
  - kelseyfrog 2y ago
    I know. Not even one person has consistency. There will either be cases of ambiguity or contradiction. You're arguing against Gödel's incompleteness theorem. You're asking for something that's not possible.
crote 2y ago
> So fluoridated water is mass medication because the alternatives are bottled or expensive, not pumped into the house, and salt is non-mass medication even though its “natural”-marketed alternatives are more expensive too Correct. You already get most of your salt intake from salt-containing foods. In most cases there is zero need to add salt to your food. You can get a 3lbs box of kosher salt for less than $4. Assuming the maximum recommended daily salt intake of 6g, if you get half of that via added salt, that's less than $0.01 / day. Alternatives are widely available at no significant burden, so it is not mass medication. > Or is it mass medication in the grains case because the FDA requires folic acid to be added? Debatable because grain-free diets are possible. But I would indeed consider this a form of mass medication because it is mandatory to add it. In fact, for a long time my country explicitly forbade adding it to grains! These days it is allowed here, but of course optional. My position is incredibly simple, actually: don't require adding random stuff to food which doesn't need to be there! It is my body, the government doesn't get to decide what I do with it. It is irrelevant whether that is helpful (like fluoridated water and folic acid almost certainly are) or harmful, they should not have that power in the first place.

kelseyfrog 2y ago

Social categories cannot be both comprehensive and consistent and you're asking for both.

hombre_fatal 2y ago
I'm asking for consistency from one person.
- kelseyfrog 2y ago
  I know. Not even one person has consistency. There will either be cases of ambiguity or contradiction. You're arguing against Gödel's incompleteness theorem. You're asking for something that's not possible.

crote 2y ago

> So fluoridated water is mass medication because the alternatives are bottled or expensive, not pumped into the house, and salt is non-mass medication even though its “natural”-marketed alternatives are more expensive too Correct. You already get most of your salt intake from salt-containing foods. In most cases there is zero need to add salt to your food. You can get a 3lbs box of kosher salt for less than $4. Assuming the maximum recommended daily salt intake of 6g, if you get half of that via added salt, that's less than $0.01 / day. Alternatives are widely available at no significant burden, so it is not mass medication. > Or is it mass medication in the grains case because the FDA requires folic acid to be added? Debatable because grain-free diets are possible. But I would indeed consider this a form of mass medication because it is mandatory to add it. In fact, for a long time my country explicitly forbade adding it to grains! These days it is allowed here, but of course optional. My position is incredibly simple, actually: don't require adding random stuff to food which doesn't need to be there! It is my body, the government doesn't get to decide what I do with it. It is irrelevant whether that is helpful (like fluoridated water and folic acid almost certainly are) or harmful, they should not have that power in the first place.