gneurshk wrote:
Because people who aren't psychopaths have empathy for other people and don't want them to die. That's already a lower-than-baseline level of humanity to have.
The level to which you're dehumanizing fat people and those with other health issues is seriously disgusting. I also find it ironic how you talk about "Big Pharma" and ignore the fast food/processed food industry, which has had a huge effect over the obesity epidemic. But I guess it lets you hate the people you want to hate.
Excuse me?...not having "empathy" for people who are obese because they have no discipline to excercise, eat healthy and lose weight? Lol. What about the smokers and heavy drinkers and drug abusers out there who trash their bodies and are also at a much higher risk of dying from Covid? Also feel sorry and have empathy for them? Lol.
Obesity, alcoholism, smoking, etc. are all preventable conditions - no one is forcing these people to do this crap. Obese people are not being dehumanized - there needs to be some accountability on their part for allowing themselves to get so fat and unhealthy. I know people at my gym who work 10, 12 hr days, have young children to deal with, and other responsibilities in their busy lives, but still find time to workout regularly, have the discipline to eat healthy and stay very fit! There are also some disabled veterans from the Middle-East conflicts who are working out hard and are incredibly motivated (one guy is even in a wheelchair and is very fit!). These men & women get my all respect - not the people who don't take charge of their health.
And your point on the fast food industry is nonsense. No one is forcing these people to eat fast food crap. People make a choice to do it. I drive by these fast food joints all the time and never have any inclination to stop in. And people on a strict budget or low income folks can buy healthy food very cheaply at the Walmart's (fruit & vegetables are a good start). The even sell some organic products that are reasonably priced. And a bottle of D3 is dirt cheap!
https://www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n623"Covid-19 death rates are 10 times higher in countries where more than half of the adult population is classified as overweight, a comprehensive report from the World Obesity Federation has found."
"The report analysed mortality data from Johns Hopkins University and the WHO Global Health Observatory data on obesity.1 Of the 2.5 million covid-19 deaths reported by the end of February 2021, 2.2 million were in countries where over half the population is classified as overweight—defined as a body mass index above 25."
"Taking data from over 160 countries, the report found linear correlations between a country’s covid-19 mortality and the proportion of adults that are overweight. There is not a single example of a country with less than 40% of the population overweight that has high death rates (over 10 per 100 000), the report said. Similarly, no country with a death rate over 100 per 100 000 had less than 50% of their population overweight."
"Vietnam, for example, had the lowest death rate from covid-19 in the world (0.04 per 100 000) and the second lowest levels of population overweight at 18.3%. The UK has the third highest death rate globally (184 deaths per 100 000) and the fourth highest prevalence of overweight at 63.7%. The United States has the next highest death rate at 152.49 deaths per 100 000 and has 67.9% of the population overweight."
"Overweight populations are more susceptible to respiratory diseases generally. During the MERS and H1N1 influenza epidemics, for example, worse outcomes were linked to excess body weight. The World Obesity Foundation said that governments must invest in obesity prevention to prepare for future pandemics and called for people with obesity to be among priority groups for covid-19 vaccines and testing."