This post challenges the way we think about ourselves, and the benefits of living in a democratic and “free” country. There is a strong downside, to excessive “freedom” because some degree of regulation and control makes the community safer for everyone. The political process is the means by which we discuss and make decisions about how much control and regulation is desirable. Dr James Muecke suggests that we can do better.
The elephant in the room, is our poor health that we think is “normal”. Most of us have not experienced the good health we might want for many years.
We very badly need a nanny state if we want to live long healthy lives. But the way we think politically, and the way we organise of society because of that means that the best possible health outcomes are never going to be a top priority. In modern democratic communities, the political process is owned and controlled not by the political parties, but by the individuals, businesses and institutions, that have a strong stake in the society. Those with something to lose be it wealth, property, or status, are likely to engage strongly in the political process, the discussion about how we should organise ourselves.
In the USA, this has become startlingly clear in the last 30 years. Prior to 1981, and the election of Ronald Reagan as president, the post WWII USA was prosperous and confident, and the political divisions were not so marked as they are now. In July, 2022, Scientific American reports; “People in Republican Counties Have Higher Death Rates Than Those in Democratic Counties.“
Just two examples from the article. Reporting the gun deaths per 100,000 people, of the 25 States with the highest death toll, only FIVE voted Democrat. That is confirmed by the Covid-19 death rate. In the 2020 election, States voting for Donald Trump had 68 more deaths per 100,000 people, than states that voted for Joe Biden. It makes a difference, if you choose “freedom” and “lower taxes” and “less regulation” there is real cost.
Muecke argues that Australia’s shockingly high rates of type two diabetes, obesity, and heart disease are caused be an unhealthy, toxic food environment, in schools, hospitals and universities, as well as supermarkets, corner stores, petrol stations and chemists’ shops. The NORMAL way we shop for food is destructive of our health and it’s like that because vested interests see that their freedom to make sales and profit is more important than public health concern.
Government, all political parties, are captured the source of their funding. False information is commonly promoted by sources that any reasonable person would expect to be a reliable source of good health information. For instance, Diabetes Australia, or one of the universities, or the College of General Practitioners’. False information like; that a vegetarian diet is the healthiest, or that the Mediterranean Diet is proven to be superior, or that red meat in the diet causes cancer, or that the best way to lose weight is to exercise. These LIES have a source. They are told because someone profits when these lies are spread. The Standard Australian Diet, or the American equivalent, is NOT a healthy diet. This was shown with great clarity in the study called the “Women’s Health Initiative” that concluded in 1996. You don’t know that, because the result was buried soon after it was announced. There was too much investment, too much future income, too much status and prestige invested in the SAD, for that result to be acted upon.
It’s not reasonable to blame the individual for the amount of obesity, diabetes and cardio-vascular disease in the community. The community itself is sick. However, in the short run each person has to discover the tools to add years of good health to their lifespan.
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