Rather than focus on Maher's smarmy deliveries, internalize the real lesson: Uncle Sam was never worried what the coronavirus might do to us*—especially the most vulnerable
Aug 17, 2022·edited Aug 17, 2022Liked by Kevin Beck
Easy enough for you to mock the obese -- you are a natural skinny-fast. :-)
Yesterday was the first meeting of my class for the new academic year. In telling my students how we (in our school of public health) value diversity, I mentioned a survey we did of our faculty, staff, and students back in 2010 to assess the climate in terms of diversity and discrimination. We had some write-in comments from people who felt they were discriminated against or looked down on because they were fat and/or smokers. As I said to my students, we are a school of public health and obesity and smoking are known risk factors for numerous diseases and conditions. So we have to support efforts to reduce smoking and obesity. On the other hand, that doesn't mean we should ill-treat individuals because they are obese or smokers. Similar to "hate the sin, love the sinner" we should hate smoking and obesity but love (or at least not discriminate against) the smoker or the obese individual.
A few days ago I posted to FB that the NYT Op-Ed in the link below speaks to me. I was overweight until I was about 21. My nickname in elementary school was "Fatty". I don't have a record of how much I weighed back then and did my best to avoid being photographed, but I am sure I am now lighter and thinner than I was at any point between the ages of 13 and 20. I was happiest when swimming, whether in the ocean or in a pool. Getting to and from the water was an issue though as it meant having to expose my flab.
(I should add that what counted as "fat" in the '60s and early '70s would probably be well within the range of "normal" now.)
Easy enough for you to mock the obese -- you are a natural skinny-fast. :-)
Yesterday was the first meeting of my class for the new academic year. In telling my students how we (in our school of public health) value diversity, I mentioned a survey we did of our faculty, staff, and students back in 2010 to assess the climate in terms of diversity and discrimination. We had some write-in comments from people who felt they were discriminated against or looked down on because they were fat and/or smokers. As I said to my students, we are a school of public health and obesity and smoking are known risk factors for numerous diseases and conditions. So we have to support efforts to reduce smoking and obesity. On the other hand, that doesn't mean we should ill-treat individuals because they are obese or smokers. Similar to "hate the sin, love the sinner" we should hate smoking and obesity but love (or at least not discriminate against) the smoker or the obese individual.
A few days ago I posted to FB that the NYT Op-Ed in the link below speaks to me. I was overweight until I was about 21. My nickname in elementary school was "Fatty". I don't have a record of how much I weighed back then and did my best to avoid being photographed, but I am sure I am now lighter and thinner than I was at any point between the ages of 13 and 20. I was happiest when swimming, whether in the ocean or in a pool. Getting to and from the water was an issue though as it meant having to expose my flab.
(I should add that what counted as "fat" in the '60s and early '70s would probably be well within the range of "normal" now.)
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/12/opinion/swimming-weight.html
This new generation is in for a rude awakening because they are delusional and are never accountable for their actions.