Opus 2013-360: The Nanny State: Now Saving You from Transfats

I usually don’t finish my coffee when it is decaf.

I can’t explain it.  I am not such a connoisseur that I taste a big difference.  I don’t notice it until later but when I am driving if I am drinking regular coffee I finish it before I arrive.  If it is decaf I always have some left over.  There is something that does not satisfy.

A recent headline has been that the government is moving to remove trans fats from our foods.  All the logic is good.  Trans fats are bad for us.  Trans fats damage our health.  So remove them.  And they promise it won’t effect the taste of the food.  Right.  And we can all have great health care with no increase in cost.  Just let the government take care of you.

When the government removes the trans fats you will see another decline in the economy.  It will be subtle and you won’t see the connection so let me point it out.  The food will not taste as good.  It won’t be terrible.  You can’t put your finger on it but you buy less when you eat out and you eat out less often because it just doesn’t satisfy you.  As a result the income of the food industry declines.  Profits go down.  People are laid off and cut back.  Fewer taxes are paid.  The spiral continues.

Will it improve our overall health?  I doubt it.  Most people will substitute other foods that give them the satisfaction they got from the trans fats.  They will not substitute raw broccoli for french fries.  They will probably go to bacon.  The problem isn’t the food but how much of it we eat and how much exercise we get in between. I have noticed that when I buy a low calorie food I end up eating more of it. 

The government means to do well.  That is the curse of the Progressive.  They are from the government and they are here to help you.  What they don’t allow for is the law of unintended consequences.  We see it all the time.  For example, when people stop smoking, they eat more.  They replace lung cancer with heart attacks and strokes.  There is always cause and effect.

People need to be taught to be responsible for their actions.  They do not need a bigger nanny state to give us an authority figure to manipulate and work around.

homo unius libri