I won’t ask you to perform the socially awkward task of declaring publicly where you think you fall on the ‘Smarts + Education bell curve’; suffice to say it’s way out on the tail (to the right, obviously). That said: From where you’re standing on that curve, if you’ll look back toward the center, you’ll see that the overwhelming majority of Americans are over there–not out here on the tail with you. So, while I don’t doubt that you and other ‘tail riders’ can overcome the information asymmetry inherent in medical decision-making by laypersons, I don’t think that fact has much bearing on the decision-making of the vast majority of individuals.
It’s no coincidence that, despite my attempts to fully apprise my pts of the pros and cons regarding various ways we could manage their conditions, the response I get 99.99% of the time is ‘Whatever you think best, doc.’
That’s completely fair ED. As I said above, I DO think that the asymmetry is a huge problem. I also personally think that mental disengagement in the populace is just as big of a problem. I see a lot of people that don’t care. Obviously as I am not seeing patients I certainly can’t speak to that with the breadth you can, it’s just what I observe around me. The beat/hippie generation’s dream of having a pill for everything and all that “one pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small” is bearing fruit in an unexpected way IMHO.
I haven’t asked the Magic Google Box for confirmation, but I’m pretty sure The Beats and The Hippies are separate generations. Not pointing that out to play ‘gotcha,’ but rather to say the sociological leanings of these two generations are very different.
I make the distinction also to allow myself to shoehorn the following book into the discussion, as it is (to my eye) making a similar, related point about ‘the Hippie generation’ as you (no financial interest):
This very well may be true, for the most part. However, without “cheap garbage food,” more people starve. If you can afford better food, it’s no one’s fault but yours if you choose to eat “cheap garbage food.”
You are undoubtedly very correct, I was being extremely careless when saying that lol. However that book looks very interesting, and I will have to check it out
You give no credence to engineered food and it’s ability to hook people, as that is what it’s intended purpose is. Why do you think food corporations spend money to devise it and why do you think they spend so much money on advertising? Because it doesn’t work and they just like spending money for fun. And what if you can’t afford anything else and you’re pretty much forced to eat their garbage?
Everything has addictive qualities, but not everything is addictive. It is also highly dependent on the individuals reward/pleasure response and what food means to them.
Some people respond to sugar like its cocaine and other people respond to cocaine like its sugar.
I know a few cats like the latter: “eh, I just felt like an eight ball on my birthday”. No way for me, but a couple acquaintances I know are like that with almost everything imaginable. Get high as hell 1 or 2 times a year and at all other times sober as a judge.
It’s almost like they are anti-addictive personalities.
I know. My one brother is like that. Obviously, I can’t wrap my head around it, but we did that exact thing one time. Except that he went home after the first eight ball and I ended up blowing through three more.
I want you to read this in Ebenezer Scrooge’s voice: Are there no buses, trains, taxis or Ubers to get those living in food deserts to the supermarket if they’re unwilling to walk?
Life is about priorities. You’ll find there are few upscale retail stores in tough neighborhoods, but no shortage of Gucci Purses, smart phones and Jordans. They traveled just fine to make those purchases.
Link below, USDA found the average American lives 2.14 miles from a grocery store.
“The average household traveled 3.79 miles to their primary grocery, even though the closest store was 2.14 miles way. This was true, with little variation, across all income groups. USDA says this indicates shoppers are sensitive to price, quality, and selection in addition to proximity.”
I don’t believe traveling 4.28 miles round trip once per week would financially break anyone.
This could be a fun topic for actual honest debate… but I’m feeling trolly. So… why do supermarkets not build in food deserts? Is it lack of demand, real estate costs, zoning laws, higher taxes, crime or what preventing this niche from being filled?
LA City Council blocked Wal-Mart for nearly a decade. Wal-Mart had to get permits the day before a big-box ban hit on 2012 or they still might not have got the store built. To channel @zeb1: “liberals did It!” Lmao
“Personal responsibility or Individual Responsibility is the idea that human beings choose, instigate, or otherwise cause their own actions. A corollary idea is that because we cause our actions, we can be held morally accountable or legally liable.”
With all due respect, I don’t think this is a reasonable response. Trains, taxis and Ubers to go grocery shopping? C’mon man.
Averages are very misleading figures. Many of us middle/upper-middle class folk live very close to a grocery store, and this skews the averages with respect to poor folk. Food deserts are real, my friend.
A fair and important question.
To qualify as addictive, lack of access to the substance in question must lead to withdrawal symptoms. Thus, I think it is a bridge too far to claim junk food is ‘engineered to be addictive,’ except in a metaphorical sense. (Which may have been what you were getting at with the hedge “addictive quality.”) What I will acknowledge is that much junk food is highly and specifically engineered to be extremely palatable and sensually rewarding, to the point of being habit-forming.
I see this all the time. People load up their groceries in taxis after they’re done shopping. Every time I go the grocery store (once a week) there’s someone getting into a taxi with their groceries or getting out of a taxi about to go shopping. I live in a fairly depressed area - median HHI is about $37,000 (2015) with a per capita income of about $22,500 (per city-data.com).
It’s do-able is the point - not sure why/if you think it’s unreasonable for people to do this…
This seems pretty nuts to me, there are 5 grocery stores that I can think of within a mile of where I’m typing this. The local population is less than 20K (medium family income is about $50k).
Yet another example of why data are so much more important than anecdote. All of us (myself included of course) are easily misled by our personal experience.