Take the Stairs Fatso, Or Else

This was originally posted on PoodleRose on July 22, 2013. Comments have not been migrated.

Never one to sit still when he can think of a way to force people to live as he thinks best, New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg recently announced

a series of first-in-the-nation anti-obesity initiatives that will promote physical activity through the design of buildings and public spaces…. The package of initiatives will promote active design through measures such as making stairways more visible to encourage use, creating more inviting streetscapes for pedestrians and bicyclists and designing spaces suitable for physical activity for people of different ages, interests and abilities.

The press release for initiative states:

Initiatives Will Promote, Not Require, Stair Use and Help Architects, Planners and Urban Designers Combat Obesity, which is Killing More Than 5,000 New Yorkers Each Year

Further, Bloomberg said,

New York City has been a leader when it comes to promoting healthier eating and now we’re leading when it comes to encouraging physical activity as well.

While the initiatives may be voluntary at first, we must keep in mind that Bloomberg “promoted” healthier eating in New York City by banning trans fats and Big Gulps. Making the sale or consumption of certain food products illegal is not promotion–it is coercion. You can bet dollars to donuts (until donuts are banned) that Bloomberg’s suggestions will ultimately become mandatory. What is “promoted” today will be forced down the throats of New Yorkers in the future, whether they want to swallow it or not.

In typical nanny fashion, Bloomberg and his allies defend this policy by the lives that will allegedly be saved. They believe that their ends justify their means, which has been the mantra of every dictator in history. But what nannies such as Bloomberg fail to see or consider are the lives that are wrecked by their meddling. Regulations add to the cost of doing business, and those costs can often be the difference between survival and bankruptcy.

Saving lives can certainly be an heroic undertaking. Rescuing hostages or pulling children from a burning building takes courage. But holding a gun to someone’s head and telling him what he can and cannot eat is not heroic.