There's No Choice If You Don't Actually Let People Choose
City Of Boston Mayor Nanny Tom Menino signed an order on Thursday banning the sale, promotion, and advertising of sugary drinks on government-owned property. Amanda Carey quotes Menino on The Daily Caller:
"I want to create a civic environment that makes the healthier choice the easier choice in people's lives, whether it's schools, worksites, or other places in the community," Menino said in a statement after the ban was announced.
Again, as my blog item headline says, there's no "choice" if you don't actually let people choose. Furthermore, I'd be willing to bet money this guy's the kind of dimbo who thinks fruit juice is a healthy choice when, the truth is, if you're going to have a bottle of apple juice, you may as well have a Coke.
The Goddess writes: Furthermore, I'd be willing to bet money this guy's the kind of dimbo who thinks fruit juice is a healthy choice when, the truth is, if you're going to have a bottle of apple juice, you may as well have a Coke.
While neither one is good for you, that statement is a an exaggeration. Carbonated beverages contain phosphoric acid, which has been linked to osteoporosis. For another, carbonation causes distention of the stomach, which can cause a person to require more food in order to feel sated.
Also, soda is generally sweetened with either high-fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners, apple juice is sweetened only naturally. Not good by any means, but better than the alternatives.
So, while I agree that neither is good for you, they are not the same.
Patrick at April 9, 2011 5:03 AM
I've become hypersensitized to "linked to" as a marker for sententious dissimulation, so I researched H3P04 at good old Google U. At that great academic resource Wikipedia I found the following:
However, a well-controlled clinical study by Heaney and Rafferty using calcium-balance methods found no impact of carbonated soft drinks containing phosphoric acid on calcium excretion.[4] The study compared the impact of water, milk, and various soft drinks (two with caffeine and two without; two with phosphoric acid and two with citric acid) on the calcium balance of 20- to 40-year-old women who customarily consumed ~3 or more cups (680 mL) of a carbonated soft drink per day. They found that, relative to water, only milk and the two caffeine-containing soft drinks increased urinary calcium, and that the calcium loss associated with the caffeinated soft drink consumption was about equal to that previously found for caffeine alone. Phosphoric acid without caffeine had no impact on urine calcium, nor did it augment the urinary calcium loss related to caffeine. Because studies have shown that the effect of caffeine is compensated for by reduced calcium losses later in the day,[5] Heaney and Rafferty concluded that the net effect of carbonated beverages—including those with caffeine and phosphoric acid—is negligible, and that the skeletal effects of carbonated soft drink consumption are likely due primarily to milk displacement.
"Correlation is not causation" vs. "It stands to reason". It's not a fair fight. Evolution trumps epistemology, absent rigor. The desire for rigor is unnatural, it has to be taught. And mostly, it isn't.
There's a whole cluster of bien-pensant beliefs regarding health, nutrition, vaccination and so forth. Chances of changing anybody's mind are low, because these beliefs appear to function primarily as social identity markers.
What is one to do when a dubious claim, such as the not-goodness of artificial sweeteners, is placed in the background of another story? To say nothing is to let stand the sententious dissimulation, to carp is to be a nitpicking pedant.
Wow. That was easy! Cite, please?
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phunctor
phunctor at April 9, 2011 6:32 AM
I'm wondering just how this is going to get enforced.
Boston apparently has either a lot of money for or expects to get some from enforcement, but I can see a billboard or banner from a LONG ways off.
And, hey, dude - what happens to your tax revenues if you succeed in getting the sales to drop? You have some medicine to take for that money addiction you have.
And sometimes, I wonder why Coke advertises. They're omnipresent. People even call Pepsi and RC "coke", despite continuous programs to the contrary, and Mountain Dew is apparently the gamer's choice.
Hey, this is a good illustration of the value of activism. Sit home, and the people who don't sit home get to tell you what to do!
Radwaste at April 9, 2011 6:53 AM
Nudging in action.
ahw at April 9, 2011 11:33 AM
While neither one is good for you
Oh nonsense. There are very few foods that aren't good for you. Like most things in life, any food is terrible for you if eaten in excess.
A big point of life is to enjoy its sensuality. If you aren't going to do that, what's the point? Ascetics are truly pathetic, misguided creatures, but if they want to live that way, fine, just don't impose it on the rest of us and please don't spew your nonsense as though it's fact.
Joe at April 9, 2011 1:40 PM
Ascetics are truly pathetic, misguided creatures, but if they want to live that way, fine, just don't impose it on the rest of us and please don't spew your nonsense as though it's fact.
Where did that come from? how did you come to that conclusion? I'm curious as to how you drew that infrence!
Frankly, I'd prefer to have Amy as a nanny than Tom Menino. Sir, have you eaten your bacon? you can't leave the table until you eat your bacon!
Ummm...bacon! ooohh...half-pound bacon cheeseburger...american? no, maybe swiss, side of cole slaw (instead of fries), pickle spear, onion and tomato. Yeah, that's what's for dinner!
I R A Darth Aggie at April 9, 2011 3:34 PM
"Mumbles" isn't exactly a paragon of health himself......
CBC at April 9, 2011 3:49 PM
Sort of OT:
Look at NYC's Leroy Comrie trying to ban Happy Meals. He's over 300 pounds and blames his bad eating habits on the availability of fast food.
And he is saying that childhood obesity is caused by happy meals. Where is his personal responsibility? And what if the parents of obese children actually parented?
I don't need the nanny state to make the decision for me.
Jim P. at April 10, 2011 6:06 AM
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