NYC mayor Bloomberg is moving forward with a proposal to ban the sale of large sodas in the city. This would apply to those sold in sports stadiums, movie theaters, restaurants, and street carts. It would not affect the sale of these items in grocery or convenience stores. Also, it would not affect fruit juices or diet sodas.

The article I referenced summarizes most of the main points I would make. Quotes are from the original referenced article.

• If we are the land of the free, why can’t we buy whatever sodas we want?

Think about that. If this ban goes into effect, then here in the United States of America, land of the free and home of the brave, the country where oppressed people everywhere have fled to for centuries now to enjoy liberty and take hold of their birthright as human beings: the right to self-determination and to make choices about their own lives for themselves without the interference of tyrants or despots, here in a country such as this, one of its greatest cities will be telling grown adults that they can’t drink a drink if it’s too big (by whose standard?) or has too much sugar in it (according to whose judgment?)

• The law will make little difference on people’s behavior because there are enough exceptions.

If you still want a large sugary drink in New York City under the ban, all you have to do is get one with milk, fruit juice (probably 10% will qualify), or alcohol in it! But if sugar (like terrorists) is obviously an existential threat to everything we hold dear, so dangerous that it requires police state measures to combat and eradicate, why are we still allowed to drink as much of it as we want if there’s some milk or alcohol in it? Duh!Everyone knows milk is the antidote to sugar. It’s in my high school health textbook. You can consume as much sugar as you want in the form of milk and ice cream blended together and you won’t gain weight. It cancels out the effect! You can also swill down as much diet soda as you want with that super-sized meal, extra side, and dessert, and because it says “diet” in the name, you’ll stay just as skinny as Paris Hilton during a famine on meth. I’m so glad that people who know so much about health are working so hard to make sure we all stay healthy!

• If the problem of obesity is so bad that we need to restrict what free individuals can buy and sell in the “land of the free,” why would there be so many exceptions?  In my opinion, it is because these things are usually incremental. People would be outraged if there was no way of them getting the sugary drinks that they are accustomed to.  For now, it will just be a minor inconvenience to buy two at once.  Later, they’ll tax each bottle so much that it will become harder and harder to buy two.  Then, before you know it, soda is effectively banned altogether.

Always remember to question freedom-restricting measures that are put into place “for your own good.”  Do you actually think nobody in the city government consumes large, sugary beverages?

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1. Make Sense, Not Laws