Personal Responsibility and the McDonald's Cheeseburger: An Expository Essay

CNN reports that the US House of Representatives approved a bill that would stop people from suing fast food chains because of their obesity. It still needs to get approval in the Senate before it can become a law, and apparently that's not a sure thing, even though 20 states have similar legislation in place.

You're right, you can't legislate personal responsibility. But then how come smokers can get away with suing? Although Philip Morris is far from a golden boy, I didn't hear him (okay them) claiming that their cigarettes were healthy, just not addictive. And neither is a McDonald's cheeseburger. Right. Have you ever had one? And I used to work for self-righteous Mickey-Dees, so you would think if anything would turn me off them, that would be it.

But here's the wrench in the plan. If the BC government can sue Big Tobacco for recovery of the tax dollars being flushed down the neverending black hole toilet of smoking related health care costs, than why can't the same province (or another, or all of them) sue Big Fat (for lack of a better term) or Big Sugar (not the band, but the Hershey people, etc) for the same reason?

Now I realize they don't have public health care in the US, but they do have medicaid or something. Which means they could sue McDonald's for those costs. But they won't. You know why?

It's the same reason that Ontario isn't suing Big Tobacco like BC. It's Money.

Fast food is big bucks to the US government. And so is tobacco harvesting in Ontario. And I guess either health care costs related to tobacco/fat represent less $$ in this trade off, or they make for some votes, or party donations, or something.

Or it could just be that our collective overriding feeling on this is that it's a matter of personal responsibility. And I guess you think there's less fat and crap in McDonald's healthy menu Fruit and Walnut Salad than their Cheeseburger. Look again.