Personal responsibility from the perspective of many Americans is...well, personal.
Gorging at an “all you can eat” buffet is a matter of personal choice and certainly downright ‘merican..."I’ll have cheese with that cheese…thank you very much… and please don’t skimp on the fries…and oh yes a coke with a scoop of ice cream in it would be friendly."
Gorging at an “all you can eat” buffet is a matter of personal choice and certainly downright ‘merican..."I’ll have cheese with that cheese…thank you very much… and please don’t skimp on the fries…and oh yes a coke with a scoop of ice cream in it would be friendly."
Though we see cases of fast food restaurant chains and tobacco companies being sued for contributing to the health problems of Americans, we can't deny that laying the blame outside of ourselves is oddly paradoxical. We should be able to eat whatever we please, but ultimately are we not responsible for our choices?
Certainly there are confusing and misleading messages from marketing agencies about which foods we should eat, why we should still smoke cigarettes and other influences bombarding us regularly, but are we really not capable of choosing wisely? It is not a big mystery. Whether it's the sick feeling we're left with after a night of excessive drinking, or the greasy, heavy feeling in our stomach after downing a KFC Double Down; when we listen intuitively to our bodies, we know these choices are probably not the most responsible ones we could have made for ourselves.
Nearly 1/3 of our nation's adults are overweight or obese. Children are at an all time high risk of developing Type II Diabetes—which was once only referred to as "Adult Onset" diabetes, because it rarely affected our young. Now, it is one of the most prevalent risks for our children. Heart disease—an often-preventable condition—is the number one killer of adults in our country.
When we start to look at the diseases affecting the world outside of our wealthy American ways, we do not see obesity and all the ailments related to it … or conversely, anorexia and bulimia, addictions and other physical disorders that stem from unstable mental states, body image issues and our lifestyle choices.
Our wealth has in fact co-opted our complacency and led us to have blind faith in corporations whose only real interest is increased market share and consumer demand.
Countries whose citizens live on less water per day than a single Western toilet flushes are of course susceptible to a number of potentially lethal diseases, but they come mostly from parasites, water and food borne illnesses, or degenerative diseases caused by a lack of quality nutrition. There is rarely a case of gluttonous obesity or bulimia in war-torn regions, or within the tightly woven fabric of tribal cultures who focus less on their own personal gratification and direct their efforts towards the collective benefit of the entire group.
What we put into our body—whether it’s food, media discourse or intercourse, it affects our clarity of thought, and our ability to be fruitful.
What we consume is our responsibility.
We must look for ways to make sure our lives and our communities are fertile environments so that we not only create healthy children, but healthy businesses, healthy schools and healthy workplaces.
What we create is our responsibility.
We inhabit this planet, but are we spending time in whatever form of Earth’s natural bounty is accessible to us? Are we cultivating our relationships with lovers, family, co-workers? Are we reading books, looking at art, watching movies that develop our personal aesthetic? Are we joyful in our acceptance of inspiration? Are we making good choices?
The more we cultivate a fertile relationship with the world, the more we’ll recognize and appreciate the family we’re seeding all around--if not within us.
All of it is our responsibility.
