Fat: England’s Brave New World Of Libertarian Paternalism
“UNVEILED: radical prescription for our health crisis,” says the Independent’s front-page headline.
“LETTERS TO PARENTS OF OBESE KIDS.” As ever, the accompanying picture of the fat child is of a fat ginger child with pale skin.
“EXERCISE HOUR FOR EMPLOYEES”; “SEPARATE QUEUES TO BUY ALCOHOL”; ZERO TOLERANCE ON SALT IN FOOD”; FREE FRUIT FOR OFFICES”; “FAT KIDS BANNED FROM SCHOOL PHOTOS.”
The last point was made up. Fat kids will not be banned, just placed at the rear behind the taller blonder children and tweaked by computers to resemble decent people. It is a process known as ‘Conditioning’.
The plan is the work of Julian Le Grand, chair of Health England. (England has the highest proportion of heavyweight adults in the European Union - 24.2 per cent obese.) Professor Le Grand has delivered a speech to the Royal Statistical Society in which he trumpets “libertarian paternalism”.
On his Defence Of Paradise-Engineering, the professor says: “It’s not like banning something. It is not prohibition. It is a softer form of paternalism.” And in a land of absentee fathers and an overbearing nanny state, we English need our Dad.
Oh Brave New World…
Posted: 23rd, October 2007 | In: Broadsheets, Food & Fat Comments (12) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
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October 25th, 2007 at 7:39 am
Would prefer them to be hash browns really… Made from real Hash
October 24th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
Boy that looks so good
October 24th, 2007 at 7:00 am
I always had to sit on the front row on the floor.
I used to want to be a stander in the back.
October 24th, 2007 at 6:56 am
Chicken Nuggets? I had no idea they were so big.
Boy are those nuggets big.
October 24th, 2007 at 6:30 am
Anorak, who broke into Oliver’s home to take this photo? Hmm?
October 24th, 2007 at 6:16 am
Nuggets
October 24th, 2007 at 4:56 am
What are those things on the left?
October 24th, 2007 at 4:46 am
That looks great!
October 24th, 2007 at 2:03 am
sepearte queues for alcohol? brilliant. does that make it quicker?
October 24th, 2007 at 1:41 am
Is that really supposed to be a burger, french fry/crisp, chicken nugget pizza? Or am I just seeing things?
October 23rd, 2007 at 10:28 pm
And he was thin-ish
October 23rd, 2007 at 10:13 pm
“On his Defence Of Paradise-Engineering, the professor says: “It’s not like banning something. It is not prohibition. It is a softer form of paternalism.”
Adolf Hitler believed in the same sort of “paternalism”!