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Right, the non-drug solution that would actually work (we can observe it working in countries with different infrastructure, healthcare, culture, city design, f
by alabastervlog 1y ago
Right, the non-drug solution that would actually work (we can observe it working in countries with different infrastructure, healthcare, culture, city design, food quality and costs and cost structures, and more—we can be fairly sure it's some combination of that stuff because the folks who live there put on weight if they move to the US) is "upend US society in a bunch of ways" so is, realistically, not workable, at least not on the scale of human lifetimes, though it still wouldn't be a bad thing to try to move somewhat closer to.
- h2zizzle 1y agoWell, no. The countries that have done this have almost invariably done it within a 30-year timespan. Japan after WWII, China at the turn of the century, the Netherlands starting in the 70s. Even American cities like DC have made significant strides just since the Covid pandemic. Reminder that the US auto industry would have collapsed during the GFC without a bailout. Balancing food industry profits against the healthcare costs carried by the poor and middle class in this country becuse of the lack of access to high-quality food produces a net negative bottom line, one of many deleterious dynamics inflating both personal and public debt. But if you hide all of that, you get to go back to your constituents and say that you're supporting manufacturing jobs and shareholder value for their retirement funds. It's a choice between securing a few people's livelihoods and lifestyles, and securing the general well-being of a lot more people. We could change that choice, and we could do it very quickly, if we wanted to. But people would rather CICO tut-tut strangers on the internet.