Thursday, December 6, 2012

welcome to mcwalmart




Okay so you've read all about my problems with the instant gratification society we live in. So many of the social problems (hah, I had that final today) of the world are caused by this mindset. Ever read A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley? If not, do so.

Now my little rants do not, by any means, imply that I am not guilty of any of these things. We are a product of the socities we live in. The difference is that I'm aware of it. Unfortunately my personal influence is, at the best, minute. I'm not even sure my friends pay too much attention to what I'm saying when I go on about these things. It's kind of like when I start talking about the zombie apocalypse. I can talk about it for hours, so I'm pretty sure people start to tune me out after about 5 minutes hahaha.

Anyway.

Welcome to McWalmart.



So your kid's teacher complains that your child is disrupting the class and they think he has attention deficit disorder. You take him to the doctor and with a minimal examination Dr. Feel Good scribbles out a script. There's a pill for rambunctious little boys, didn't you know? Give him his pill and sit him down in front of the PS3. Then you can go off in your benzo induced haze and post stupid memes on Facebook.

NO!

Find activities for your child. Teach them how to entertain themselves! Maybe they're too smart for their own good and have a hard time paying attention because they're bored. You could be seriously limiting their potential for bigger and better things!

So you don't like the way you feel. It's uncomfortable. You're sad. You get anxious when life gets stressful. Your back hurts. Your heart is broken. There's a pill/drug (I'm talking the illegal kind) for that!

NO!

We are being groomed to expect a quick fix for any of our hurts. We aren't accepting the stages of grief in any shape or form, therefore when something happens that isn't controllable or outside our comfort zone we spazz out and want the doctor to give us something to fix it. Or we go to the city and find someone to sell us that happy feeling for 60 bucks a quarter gram.

Suck it up and learn how to deal with shit. Now I understand that there are some legit mental disorders that cause our moods to be uncontrollable. I'm bi-polar and I have medication. But all it does is stabilize my mood. It doesn't make me feel good or bad. It just makes it possible for me to function and make the decision for myself whether or not I want to be happy or sad, instead of letting my brain juice decide it for me.

My latest issue has been with obesity issues. Did you know if current trends continue

90% of Americans will be obese by 2030???

That's less than 20 years from now. SHAPE THE FUCK UP 'MERICA! Reality check time, the drive thru is not serving you real food. Frozen dinners are not real food. And you don't even realize it. And don't get me started on portion control...Your body is not receiving the nutrients it needs from the crap you are putting in it. And you wonder why you're fat and unhappy. The mind follows the body. If you aren't functioning at optimal level you just can't reach full potential. Sure, you function. But functioning is not really living.

With all that being said, here's an article I found while doing a social problems paper, and my response to it.


           Recently the Pepsi soda company has released an experimental beverage in Japan known as “Pepsi Special”. This drink contains dextrin which, according to the article and medical dictionary, is a fiber that is water soluable that helps regulate the digestive system.  The company claims that by adding this ingredient to their soda the beverage will “suppress the absorption of fat” thereby promising health benefits. The article goes on to discuss the fact that too much of dextrin is potentially harmful and that putting a label on a soda indicating health benefits can inadvertently cause more harm than good.
I think this is absolutely ridiculous. Consumers are constantly trying to find ways to be healthy without actually putting forth any effort. And in reality, there isn’t too much effort to it; you either want it or you don’t. If you truly want to be healthy you will find ways to do so. Looking for an easy fix in a soda product is assinine. To me that’s like trying to put a fire out with gasoline. People who are worried about being overweight or continuing to gain weight complicate simple solutions by looking for a quick fix.
In order to solve the problem of obesity throughout the world the focus needs to be brought back specifically to nutrition and steered away from complete profitability. Items that are usually considered unhealthy, soda, for example, should not be manipulated in such a way as to falsely advertise health benefits. Food is a basic necessity and therefore it will always sell. Companies are putting more effort into packaging and looking for ways to cut costs than actually providing nutritionally sound food. Instead of glamorizing junk food industries should encourage local farmers to grow pesticide free crops and buy from them, which will also stimulate the economy. Nutrition labels should also be clear and provide accurate health information. With a series of small changes and minimal effort by the majority of the population these changes can easily occur.

BAM. Problem solved.
You're welcome.

:D

Hahahaha. Yeah, right. If only it were that easy.
If only I really did have all the answers like I seem to think I do.

Anyway.

If you're interested in other facts on obesity trends in America, the CDC website is very informative and let me warn you, the percentages are scary. I may have posted this on the last blog I did about this topic, but here it is again in case you missed it the first time.



1 comment:

  1. You are such a good writer! This was VERY informative, and had a lot of good information. And you presented it in a way that didn't bore me...awesome! :D

    ReplyDelete