"For Their Own Good"

I chose to go to college. I chose to go to medical school. I chose to join the Navy. I choose to jog regularly. I choose to lift weights. I choose to eat healthy. I choose to drink alcohol. I choose not to smoke tobacco. I choose not to smoke marijuana. These are all conscious decisions I made based on how I want to live my life. And I can understand why someone wouldn't make the same decisions as me. I don't look down on anyone who doesn't live their life the way I do. I have reasons for making my choices, and I'm sure they have reasons for making theirs.

But some people don't agree with that. Some people feel the need to impose their lifestyle decisions on others. Maybe they don't go that far. Maybe they just think that people who don't life their life a certain way are stupid, and we need to force them to change their life for their own good.

This rant comes from a conversation I had with a friend of mine. He said that if he ran the country, "no one would be allowed to weigh over 200 lbs." At that point, my Libertarian half jumped out of my body and kicked him in the crotch. But let's say for the sake of argument he has a point: "We need to protect them from themselves." Now, I do believe that obesity is a choice. With the exception of the 5% of people with a medical condition (Cushing's Disease, hypothyroidism, etc.), obese people choose to be obese. They choose not to jog, not to eat healthy, etc. I'm sure they know it's unhealthy. They know they'll live a shorter life. But they choose to live that life without jogging. With cake instead of lettuce. With television instead of dumbbells. It's their choice, and we have no right to tell them it's wrong. Hell, if I wasn't in the military, I could be a fat guy.

But the argument that we need to "fix" them doesn't go away. In every class I've taken in medical school, I'm told that obesity is an epidemic. We are told to force people to lose weight if we have to. It's for their own good. The same goes for smokers, but that's an entirely different conversation. Why do we need to save them? Let them live their lives. If an obese person makes a conscious decision to lose weight, then I will do everything within my power as a doctor to help them. Losing weight is simple; jog more, eat less. It's simple, but I know it isn't easy. They have to make the choice to change their life; I will not force it on them.

When I was arguing with my friend, the only argument he really had was that obese people are a drain on healthcare. Oh, it's an economical concern. But this may not actually be true. A recent study out of Denmark showed that obesity will cost the healthcare system less in the long run because obese people don't live as long. If we're really worried about the economy, we should be forcing people to be unhealthy. Smoke 'em if you've got 'em!

There is no reason to tell people how to live their life. Extend to them the same right to choose that you have. That is the cornerstone of Libertarianism: you have the freedom to do whatever you want, as long as you don't take that same freedom from your neighbor. "For their own good" are the four most repulsive words I can think of.

References:

1. van Baal PHM, Polder JJ, de Wit GA, Hoogenveen RT, Feenstra TL, et al. "Lifetime Medical Costs of Obesity: Prevention No Cure for Increasing Health Expenditure" PLoS Medicine 2008 5(2):29