Today's Poll: Should there be health warning labels on sugary drinks?

Why stop there? How about warning signs as you enter KFC about the dangers of deep fried food? Just one more nanny state idea that insults my intelligence. Survival of the fittest is a primal urge, and people of average intelligence know right from wrong. I don't need one more regulation to keep me safe from myself. Stop telling me what to do!

How about a big government warning on our tax bills?

I propose the following:

"If you are too foolhardy or even stupid to realize that drinking lots of heavily sugared beverages is not healthy and may lead to weight gain and/or diabetes, then you should let somebody else feed this drink to you for fear you may drown yourself in these 12 ounces of liquid."

Wordy, but I believe on the mark.

"Survival of the fittest is a primal urge,"

I guess that's why practically everyone smoked cigarettes during the war years. through the forties, and beyond. 'Survival of the fittest' is a gross misstatement of the biological principle of natural selection. Sadly, it has nothing to do with urges, common sense, average intelligence, or right from wrong. We can post all the warnings we wish, and people's mindfulness will adapt, perhaps, in about fifty years.

In the interest of full disclosure, it took me decades to stop smoking.

I more in favor of warning labels at the voting booth that warns voters of stupid politicians and their idiotic ideas.

A warning label won’t make people stop drinking pop, or eating dollar menu crap to excess, or make them take care of themselves.

I think there should be warning labels on people, right across the forehead, in all caps, ie. AHole, Psycho, Creepy Perv, etc. Then again that might just be redundant.

"Survival of the fittest is a primal urge…" Survival of the fittest is about adapting.

Also humans have been kicking around on this planet for quite a while…I’d think the “fittest” would have been naturally selected and the weaklings who choose to drink sugary pop weeded out by now. Guess not.

“…people's mindfulness will adapt, perhaps, in about fifty years.”

I disagree. People will always do stupid, self-serving, destructive things. Probably anybody suffering ill effects by drinking pop now (or not) will be residing in the boneyard in fifty years, and new generations of unadapted people will just keep repeating the same mistakes, over and over. People aren’t like animals. We’ve been burdened with having to learn and think for ourselves and make our own decisions, unlike animals who have their instincts to tell them what to do, when and how. That’s why humans keep doing stupid things and always will, IMO. History proves it.

I do agree with this: “'Survival of the fittest' is a gross misstatement of the biological principle of natural selection.” But it’s funny when people use it to explain why they can’t get dates.

Here is an experiment you can try right now:

What did the last pop up notification on your computer tell you? Didn't you read it before you closed it?

What was the calorie count per serving of the last bottled drink you consumed? It was printed right there for you, by law.

What is written on the sun visor on the car in your driveway?

This is the visual equivalent of noise and light pollution: These required by law labels do not actually exist in your experience, there are so many you that you just tune them out. But, politically, supporting them shows how much you "care" about the proles. Intention trumps efficacy.

Why is it that all those protest songs from the Sixties and Seventies resonate with me today?

http://youtu.be/oeT5otk2R1g