On an American Disorder

You know, I'm tired of talking about the bailout with people, the spend, spend, spend nature of our economy, but it is a big deal. So I'll address it, only abstractly. It's up to you to draw the parallels, try and keep up.

My wife and I were talking last night, she wondered out loud if anorexia and bulimia were still issues today. You see, when we were growing up, it was the big bleeding heart issue, behind recycling of course. These were before the days of school shootings by kids on Prozac and/or Ritalin, and global warming. Everyone was concerned about teenagers and their poor, poor self esteems (big deal, those self esteems), throwing up after meals for fear of getting fat. You know, the binging and purging thing... eat like crazy because you're starving, get guilty, ralph it up... Or just not eating at all. Only in America, right?

Well not anymore! Go to any high school these days, you will see: it is clear and obvious, to even the most casual observer, that neither bulimia nor anorexia are prevalent at all. I know this because those two methods work. They really do make you skinny. Unhealthy as a prisoner in a concentration camp also, of course. But the point here is, no one can possibly be either bulimic or anorexic, because everyone- EVERYONE- is fat as hell!

Now I could go on about the lack of exercise, which is a very important subject by itself, but the fact is that weight loss is about 70% diet and 30% exercise. I could go on about the huge amount of sugary crap, starchy foods, and other processed carbohydrates in such large amounts that make people fat. But one thing is for sure, no one has an eating disorder THESE days!

I could even link in some politics, link to a commercial posted on youtube that actually promotes high fructose corn syrup- a very slow POISON- as "made from corn [like that's good!?], and okay in moderation." I could go on about the power of the corn lobby- oh yes, there is one. I could go on about the pharmaceuticals who push useless diet pills, those things that, during the days of the anorexics and bulimics, were demonized on such classic family TV shows such as Family Matters, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, and more. Those demonizations are long gone, however, replaced with an energy drink in the hands of every would-be amphetamine abuser. I could even propose that the clean your plate mentality did this to kids today, though I doubt that is the problem, since they will willingly clean any plate that has nothing but crap piled on it.

So that's it, then. Goodbye eating disorders, hello eating crap. At least we don't care what we look like anymore. Ironically, clothes that can only be described as slut-wear seem to be at an all time high in popularity. Even in plus sizes. So, we stopped caring about what's on the outside, but forgot to start caring about what's on the inside. Ah, well, if it feels good, do it, right? Throwing up doesn't feel good! Starving doesn't feel good! Just eat! Eat, eat, EAT!!! It's yummy! Load on the starchy sugary crap! (If you notice I'm not talking about over-eating fat, that's because I don't believe in misinformation, but the federal government does, so ignore the old food pyramid.)

Anyway, as my wife and I discussed the obvious lack of eating disorders, it occurred to me that Americans do, actually have an eating disorder. Everyone is bulimic now. We just skip all the throwing up.