[bishop]

Quote by: quismo And while most parents are in praise of this movement, it only masks the fact that the parents of these fat kids are negecting their duties to embed within the child a degree of self-control.

suppose a parent gives their child some money to buy lunch at school - rather than brown bag it.. and suppose the parent doesn't want their child to drink unhealthy soda.. how is the parent supposed to ensure that their child does, in fact, buy something healthy instead of soda?

Quote by: quismo How do you feel about the regulation, not only of soft drinks and foods, but of self-control in general? Is this a progress in our society or a set back allowing the government to furthur control our personal lives?

public schools were about as horrible an example as you can give - because they're public institutions. the state can regulate its own institutions, just like you can regulate behavior inside your own home (like forcing people to take their shoes off before walking on the carpet for example).

the government doesn't prevent you from going to mcd's every day, for every meal.. it doesn't prevent you from buying a case of beer/day.. it doesn't prevent you from smoking a carton of cigarettes a day. etc..

my state recently passed regulations impacting purchases of nyquil and sudafed (and their generic alternatives)... now when you want to buy them, you have to fill out some sort of application and provide certain information. the reason behind this is because private meth labs use these products to make their vile drugs.. this example doesn't seem to be one of self-control or the lack thereof - it seems to be centered more around public health/safety. i personally don't agree with the law, but this particular regulation has nothing to do with self-control..

and, i can't think of many instances where the government does regulate what we can buy (aside from drugs). do you have any better examples?