The Mighty Mighty Boss Tone

Mayor Laws was off the topic of Samoan families in South Auckland today, and there was a collective sigh of relief, from not only myself, but his listeners too. (There wasn't.) Today's topic was childhood obesity, Government intervention, and what you can do.

Mayor Laws actually liked the idea that the Government was banning the sale of unhealthy foods in school canteens, likening the whining of teachers to something you wouldn't expect unless they'd had a 10% pay-cut. A little harsh methinks, but no-one else did.

Anyway, the general consensus was that there are many causes for these fat little tykes, most of the lazy parents who just don't know how to cook. Not that many answers were proffered to address the issue. The one Miguel liked the most was a fat tax. Like cigarettes. Like liquor. Kind of like drink-driving. You know, two-pronged approach. Education and regulation. Carrot and stick. A voice of reason in the face of those barking mad libertarians who think that because they can make an informed choice on everything they do (they lead blameless lives), everyone else can too.

Tax the fat people. It will only make them skinny.

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The thing on everyone's lips today has been that that overbearing government of ours is forcing our educators to stop selling fatty foods in their tuck shops. Worse still, they're going to force these administrative guidelines through in a year's time. A whole year. How dear they?!?

I hope I have the appropriate amount of indignation. Surely the government has no role in trying to stop our children from becoming morbidly obese. And as that nice woman Katherine Rich points out, it's only making another layer of bureaucracy to destroy our schools. What next indeed? Next they might start asking for a return on their investment. (Actually, that might be a good idea. Problems in education run deeper than anyone's willing to accept.) Damn that liberal media. And damn the man.