I'm Not "We"
19 October 2006
The Editor, New York Times
229 West 43rd St.
New York, NY 10036
To the Editor:
Proposing to tax convenient means of ordering fast-food, Martin Schmidt inappropriately anthropomorphizes the country by writing that “we face a crisis of obesity and its concomitant health problems” ("Supertax Me," October 19).
Regardless of how many Americans are grossly overweight, obesity is an individual condition rather than a collective condition. As such, solutions to obesity should be individual rather than collective. If my neighbor is obese, it's none of my business to force him to lose weight - or, more generally, arrogantly to presume that I know better than he does what’s best for him.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
The Editor, New York Times
229 West 43rd St.
New York, NY 10036
To the Editor:
Proposing to tax convenient means of ordering fast-food, Martin Schmidt inappropriately anthropomorphizes the country by writing that “we face a crisis of obesity and its concomitant health problems” ("Supertax Me," October 19).
Regardless of how many Americans are grossly overweight, obesity is an individual condition rather than a collective condition. As such, solutions to obesity should be individual rather than collective. If my neighbor is obese, it's none of my business to force him to lose weight - or, more generally, arrogantly to presume that I know better than he does what’s best for him.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Posted by Don Boudreaux on
Monday June 4, 2007 at 6:41pm