Where the foxes caper unmolested, the government packs your school lunch and ONE AND TWO AND THREE AND TOUCH YOUR TOES…
Companies with more than 500 staff would have an ” exercise hour”. Employees would have to deliberately choose not to join in. The proposalsare the opposite of the Government’s approach which requires people to opt in to healthy lifestyles. Instead it would be up to them to make the unhealthy choice.
In his speech to the Royal Statistical Society last night the professor, a former aide to Tony Blair said: “It is not like banning something, it’s a softer form of paternalism.”
Wow. I can’t believe The English have succomed to “A Clockwork Orange”. This should be a heads up for us. Damn the Beaurocrats..Full speed ahead..
Actually it’s now officially Gordon Brown’s Britain, but Tony certainly has a lot to answer for. They’re just an extreme example of a disease that we have here — politicians do nothing about filthy hospitals where patients die from diarrhea and flesh-eating bacteria; instead they bloviate about obesity and smoking. Here’s a link to a superb must-read article on the state of British and by extension Canadian medical care:
The Retreat from Scutari
(The title refers to the abandonment of the Florence Nightingale concept of nursing).
I read a piece a while back in The Freeman (Foundation of Economic Education) — a review of a book advocating, wait for it, “Paternalistic Libertarianism”. Like this cat, the idea was to change the defaults to “you’re in” instead of “you’re out unless you sign up”. The theory is that the government knows what’s best and seeing that most people are just plain passive why not have them automatically signed up to “good choices” as the default option instead of opting out through disinterest. They still have a choice of course only they must act to avoid the “good choices”.
Will the bear market in common sense every bottom?
I’m well aware that Gordon Brown has taken over, but the stink of Blair will take a long time to scrub away – and at the moment, nobody seems to be interested in tackling the job.
I find some large corporations are now providing fitness centres in their buildings, complete with basketball and tennis courts, and soccer fields. Gosh, sitting around on your ass all day pounding on a computer sure is hard work. You wouldn’t want to exercise on your SPARE time would you?
I’d just like to say, double plus un-good.
It has become impossible to satirize the Labour Party regime. This “gentleman” has lifted straight out of George Orwell and the newspaper writer doesn’t even blink. Not a neuron firing.
1984 was supposed to be a cautionary tale but Labour has taken it for a social blueprint and is IMPLEMENTING it.
“In Britain we don’t watch the telly. It watches us.”
Gee, a great idea for Toronto’s Dipper Mayor, a new fat tax.
Is it asking too much of the remaining few Brits that haven’t been lobotomized by the Labour party to take it to the streets, start organized letter campaigns, anything? And, where are the Tories? The Labour party keeps delivering to them the material for their comeback and they do nothing with it.
It never ceases to astonish me how easily people morph into wholesale sheeple, stampeding to surrender their rights to nanny states. Is adulthood that overwhelming?
What’s the use of all of the enforced good health when the native population isn’t even using their forced fitness to breed themselves into demographic parity with their ever increasing Muslim hordes.
The Brits don’t have that many election cycles left to salvage what they can.
The formerly Great Britain is on an irretrievable flush down the toilet bowl of history…
Wave bye-bye and say Ta-ta…..
A “softer form of paternalism” is still bleeping paternalism! Let adults be adults and reap the natural consequences of their actions and choices. It’s not like we haven’t been preached at for the last thirty years about the dangers of tobacco and not exercising.
While it has been shown that companies that provide exercise time/facilities can be more productive, the “you’re in unless you say so” approach is nothing less that big brother socialism. Britain is getting more scary if that is possible.
You know what’s really sad? If my company actually stepped up to the plate and took a serious attempt at encouraging me to exercise – ie. actually giving me an hour’s window while at work to exercise – I would probably do it. If only I worked at a company progressive enough to care about my health and well-being beyond my benefit to the bottom line.
A good example of a good idea when it is voluntary but a bad idea when coerced.
It helps to remember that adults—as in being 18 or over—really aren’t adults anymore. Most are still at the psychological and emotional stage of adolescence: these people, unfortunately, are the ones in charge of government, education, the healthcare system, our courts, etc. Of course, they do everything ass backwards.
Re exercise: in Ontario, the Liberal government (apparently, committed to improving literacy and numeracy), has STOLEN 100 minutes of teachers’ and students’ time per week, requiring that each classroom teacher provide—on top of recess and gym—20 minutes per day of physical activity. Bloody DOWNLOADING.
Are parents required, in return, to provide nutritious lunches or other signs of a healthy lifestyle? No. It’s up to the teacher—who has no other responsibilities reduced—to become a lifestyle coach and, usually with no training for such a requirement, have the kids do strenuous physical activity out of the already overcrowded timetable. (BTW, a child in the GTA apparently died last year after such activity: this information was deep sixed by the board and MSM.)
Employees participating in strenuous physical activity while at work? This makes one sweat: I do when I run. Are there time and facilities available for employees to cool down and shower? If not, the idea’s a complete sham.
What else is new?
I’ve just spoken to a career teacher sent home over three weeks ago on the hearsay evidence of a cretinous child: the teacher’s been isolated and has received no information from his employer about the “charge”. If the case is ever resolved, hopefully, in favour of the innocent teacher, there will be no consequences for the child who lied. Adults give consequences; adolescents give hugs and high fives.
The fact that most Western countries are now “ruled” by the brain dead , adolescent MSM and their equally brain dead, adolescent political minions—pace, PMSH—bodes very ill for all of us.
BTW, the “charge” I mentioned was in no way sexual.
the best source of truth about what socialism has done and is doing to the UK
http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/
a must read daily blog . . right after Kate 🙂
If you listen very closely you can hear a billion assgirths growing with the excuse of righteous protest.
That’s nothing compared to the paternalistic totalitarian worker’s republic Evita Clinton has in mind.
Although, I must say that mandatory fitness sessions seems to advance the political implications of Rawlsian/Marxist distributive justice are pretty shocking none the less.
Nothing new here. In another great socialist nation, Japanese companies have been exercising their employees for many years.
in case you missed this news:
New law every 3 hours from Blair
http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=871052007
ONE law every three hours has been created during Tony Blair’s decade in power – most of it without the full scrutiny of parliament, research published today will reveal.
Over the past ten years, close to 30,000 new laws have been created – an average of 2,685 a year or more than seven a day.
I have the utmost faith in Britain’s people. The slothfulness and self-indulgence of the post-war teat-fed population will win out. “Workers” will opt out in droves. Ultimately, the program will fall on its sword, the victim of a human rights suit brought by a legion of beans-on-toast, fish and chips inhaling slacks wearers. The charge – discrimnation against the differently mobile.
You heard it here first.
“”It is not like banning something, it’s a softer form of paternalism.””
Soooo in this statist twinkie’s thinking it’s better to slap people around with a velvet glove covering the iron fist.
I’m afraid I’d make a very poor Brit….I tend to obey only laws which make sense and are generally extensions of personal/public choice or will. I’m really not good with this do-as-we-tell-you- we-know-what’s-good-for-you nanny shit.
So Iberia, you wanna live in Japan?
They have this lovely proverb there. “The nail that sticks up will be hammered down.” I figure you’d last two seconds.
“If only I worked at a company progressive enough to care about my health and well-being”
I hope that’s sarcasm Shane.
You know what’s really sad? Too many people are willing to turn over their “well being” to others. The Tony Blairs of this world are delighted to “help” them.
What’s next? Laundry police? Teeth brushing regulations? How about laws strictly governing bedtime? Manditory daily singing the praises of the nation?
What is wrong with people who support this lunacy?
Where did I write that I wanted to live in Japan, Phantom?
I passed the link to this item to my nephew who lives in London. He is British born and raised. Here is his comment.
Bob,
I read about this.
In certain circles New Labour is becoming known as the Neu Arbeit Party (Arbeit as in: “Arbeit Mach Frei”). I think that this is a good example of why.
Rest assured that everyone will treat this proposal with the contempt it deserves. If I ever work for a large company, I will a) opt out and b) attend exercise hour as a spectator, armed with a Whopper and fries. I am sure that the aroma would cheer everybody up.
I note also that I may have to acquire a smoking permit to continue with the tradition of lighting up my protest cigar on official No Smoking Day.
There is light at the end of the tunnel. I can’t see Brown and his cohorts getting re-elected. The only question lies in how much damage they can do in the next two years or so.