What can we learn from The Biggest Loser...

[Guest]

1) There were three black people on the season opener, which seems way too small of a sample, but two of the three were women. And, this is where we will begin...

The black man was a stud, although a 400+ pound stud, the women were the BIGGEST drama queens ever. They started off saying the right things, I want to change, I'm fat and need to change, I need to make a life change, etc. Then, they were put to the test...a test of their will via being physical. Once the test started, they both broke down. Drama ensued. Look at me and my drama, look at me and my drama, look at me and feel sorry for me and my dramatic, fatness. Neither of them made it to the actual competition because they were too busy creating excuses as to why they couldn't perform 500 step ups or run/walk 1 mile. Sad and reflective of what we already know to be true...

2) Every single one of the men on the show fessed up to one of two things: 1) I'm lazy and stopped working out OR 2) I'm lacking will power and eat whatever there is in sight. Their sins are their own. They take ownership of what brought them to this place and understand that only they can fix their problems.



3) Women make excuses, a list will follow:
[LIST]
[*]My brother died and that's when I started to overeat...I hit bottom then
[*]My mom hated the fact that I was ALREADY fat, so I ate even more to spite her
[*]I don't have time for myself because I'm too focused on raising and providing for my family. However, my husband tells me how hot I am and I don't believe him just so I don't have to have sex with him because I'm such a fat ass (the last sentence was creative license).
[*]My second husband cheated on me so I lost myself in food because I was so hurt...
[*]I was in an abusive relationship, both emotionally and physically, so to defend myself I ate and ate and ate and ate and ate...my hope was that he would get tired of me and I could be free from his hate (forget the fact that a bus ticket costs almost NOTHING and she could have left at WILL)
[/LIST]My point is simple. Well, do I need to make my point even further than from examples? No, no I don't.

If you are not ashamed by the America we live in right now, then I feel sorry for you.

Why?

Simple...because what I pointed out just now pales in comparison to the destruction that occurs in our once beautiful nation every single day...there is a TV show DEVOTED to the plight of fat people in this country, thus making them virtuous and to be envied...

Such a sad state. With enough time, we'll all be standing around the bar drooling over the chick that is the LEAST FAT...

Hooray American men!!!!

[Guest]

That is a veracious account of the trouble with our country. Americans in general are very lazy and just overall pathetic. I know you were focusing on the women, but most of america, including the "men" (if you can call them that) are a shell of what they should be. It is considered cool to be a feminist sympathizer, to be walked all over, and accept it.

I go to grocery stores throughout town for my job. I see everyday the same thing happening...people would rather sit in their car and clog up traffic to wait 5 min for a parking spot up front at the grocery store instead of walking an extra 30 feet. It would have been quicker to walk that extra distance instead of waiting for the closest spot to open. But of course, the extra exercise will kill them. So they take all that extra time to get a spot that is 8 spaces closer.

At walmart (you see this in other stores, but walmart consists of the low of the low lifes, the most vile creatures shop here), you see gross, corpulent slobs loading up multiple carts of nothing but junk food, pepsi, mountain dew, frito lay chips, candy bars. And they wonder why their kids are obese.

But it isn't just the overweight issue. It is our massive stupdity. We routinely rank lower than other first world countries in educational standings. Speaking of tv shows, the highlight of our life is what is going to happen on dancing with the stars or the jersey shore. We love mindless entertainment because it makes us more mindless. God forbid, that we use our time constructively and better ourselves in some way. Our role models are "the situation" and ke$ha.

I'm, in fact, ashamed of the America we live in right now

[Guest]

Why are you going to judge people you don't even know? Even more importantly, why do you care?

When it comes to America, I am full of optimism.

I had my Swedish citizenship revoked a couple weeks ago, so now I am a 100% pure American hunk of beefcake.

But seriously, this experience has opened me up to reflect on what it means to be an American.

There is no doubt that this country of ours is the greatest nation on earth. Two things in particular make it great in my mind.

The first is the freedom of the individual. I'm not even 30 years old, and I can have a job that lets me make six figures driving around unsupervised, selling stuff. I can break from the norm and disagree with every established idea in every circle of people I am around. I can chew people out on message boards and real life. I can go to bars by myself and hit on a dude's little sister when he's right there. I can be whoever I want, whoever I choose to be. That's the luxury America gives me and I'm damn straight up thankful for that, because you don't have that everywhere. Not just that it's accepted legally, but culturally too. America makes me a better person than I would be living somewhere else.

Now, some people need a babysitter. Some people will eat themselves to death unless someone is there to hold their hand and say 'no.'

The second strength of America is it's unique diversity. Diversity is one of those things that you will never really appreciate unless you have lived somewhere that doesn't have it. And I don't just mean racial diversity, I mean more specifically diversity of thought. Diversity of ideas.

Thank God we don't live somewhere that's static and boring and forces you to conform. And if some people want to fuck themselves up by getting big and fat, or poor, or whatever, that's their beef. I'm not going to stand in their way any more than I would want them to stand in mine when I'm doing my own thing.

[Guest]

[QUOTE=The Constitution]We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.[/QUOTE]

(I did that from memory... go me!)

I love my country. I love the land, the concept, and in some instances the reality. However, our country is not what it was intended to be by the men who wrote the above passage.

In my mind, the forces at work that have caused this decline are three fold. The rise of modern media, the failure of the family unit, and the failure of our leaders to see that small micro changes effect the macro picture.

Now I was going to write some more, but then I got bored and decided to go eat some more corn chips...... [U]Idiocracy[/U] anybody?

[Guest]

O.M.G. B R you are such a racist! Why they gotta be black.. Why you always trin' ta keep a sista down, honky cracka

[Guest]

[QUOTE=grimm1111;37714]Why are you going to judge people you don't even know? Even more importantly, why do you care?[/QUOTE]


Because sir they deserve to be judged. This is one of the BIGGEST problems in America right now. Lack of shame. Lack of shame stems from one destructive malady: the sense of entitlement.

Entitlement is the absolute most destructive force in America right now. Understand, that entitlement includes all sorts of things. I'm entitled a high paying job, good health, and shouldn't have to work too hard for anything really. And, when these dregs of society do not get what they feel they should have for free then they take from those of us willing to work and sweat and suffer and claw our ways to a better life.

The reason I care is because their actions and their choices have a very real impact on my life. We live in a community and as such, very often we pay for the decisions of others in our community.

A great example, I am almost 100% positive that I will never have children. I find children repulsive to the nth degree and wish to spend my time and life with adults. Yet, I am forced by our government to pay for their education. Why? Why should I be held responsible for paying for them in any manner? Other people made that choice and they should be forced to live with that decision. I should not have to pay for other people's choices.

Another example? My health insurance. My premiums went up and my co-pays went up this last year about 15%. The reason was because of larger medical claims in the pool of individuals at my company. A quick look around my office and I can tell you right now that at least 50% of the people that work here are obese. Being obese has very real costs and I'm forced to pay for their poor life choices.

I judge because they need to be judged. Remember, social pressure exists for a reason: to keep people in line, to keep them behaving, and to prevent them from making decisions that hurt the entire community. I care because they are impacting my life and, in many ways, making my life just a little bit worse.

But, most importantly, I care because they are destroying the last, great place to live on earth. The lazy, the entitled, and the envious. Every single issue in America today can be solved with a good, healthy dose of forcing people to take resposnsibility for their actions.

Are you obese? Well, that's YOUR fault (sure the foods that are peddled in America are almost all poison, but you choose to eat them).

Are you poor? Well, that's YOUR fault (unless you're a retard, there is no way you shouldn't be able to find a way to make more money and improve your lot in life...especially in America).

Do you lack education? Well, that's YOUR fault. Our government will give any idiot cash to get a better education (seriously, the stupidist people I've ever met I met in college...including graduate school).

The problem is that people are unwilling to endure the slightest bit of uncomfort or pain to achieve their goals. Success is directly measured by how much pain and discomfort you have endured in your lifetime. Ask a bodybuilder or a CEO and they'll tell you what they had to endure in order to achieve.

People in this country are weak and you can see it everyday when you walk outside.

You have optimism for America? Well, I am optimistic that she will remain the greatest land in the world. Relatively speaking we will remain 'on top.' But, from an absolute sense, we will continue to fall and further degenerate. Our culture will be thouroughly infected by entitlement and by lack of personal responsibilty.

What can turn things around? Shame. Make people feel shame for being weak, lazy, poor, stupid, etc. Shame people into better lives. Sometimes, a kick in the ass is better than a hand up...

[Guest]

I see where you're coming from, but I think you should be careful when you judge or shame others, because it opens you up to receive criticism as well.

For instance, one could say that by not having kids, you are not doing your part to re-populate this country. People like you are the reason we need to have things like amnesty for Mexican migrants. People like you are why I have to press "one" for English. People like you are responsible for what the NAACP calls the "browning" of America.

Of course I don't believe that, but if you point the finger, you can't complain when someone points the finger at you.

[Guest]

[QUOTE]A great example, I am almost 100% positive that I will never have children. I find children repulsive to the nth degree and wish to spend my time and life with adults. [B]Yet, I am forced by our government to pay for their education. Why? Why should I be held responsible for paying for them in any manner?[/B] Other people made that choice and they should be forced to live with that decision. I should not have to pay for other people's choices.[/QUOTE]

Simply put, Children are part of the a societies innovation engine. Without the community as a whole contributing to the education of children, there would develop a case of haves and have-nots which would mean that some people with brilliant ideas, would simply not be able to bring those ideas to fruition, and society as a whole would suffer.

One could make the case that society (as a whole) was set back several hundred years , because of a lack of social education in the middle-ages. With the re-invention of public eduction occurring during the Renaissance in Italy (Florence specifically), primarily provided by the church infrastructure, we were able to once again start our innovation engine and grow our technology.

Of course, you could argue that public education played a minor part in the Renaissance, and that the middle ages were the result of cataclysms like that mini-ice age and black death, but I think that the case can be made that the re-assertion of this institution helped the period of enlightenment beginning in the late middle ages. Indeed the lack of uniform acceptance of the Renaissance as a movement only serves to further demonstrate this point.

[QUOTE]Another example? My health insurance. My premiums went up and my co-pays went up this last year about 15%. The reason was because of larger medical claims in the pool of individuals at my company. A quick look around my office and I can tell you right now that at least 50% of the people that work here are obese. Being obese has very real costs and I'm forced to pay for their poor life choices.
[/QUOTE]

I can appreciate this. Socialized medicine has never been a part of this nations social fabric, and while on the surface, the concept looks good, I do not support the idea.

[Guest]

[QUOTE=Bull Run;37720]Because sir they deserve to be judged. This is one of the BIGGEST problems in America right now. Lack of shame. Lack of shame stems from one destructive malady: the sense of entitlement.

Entitlement is the absolute most destructive force in America right now. Understand, that entitlement includes all sorts of things. I'm entitled a high paying job, good health, and shouldn't have to work too hard for anything really. And, when these dregs of society do not get what they feel they should have for free then they take from those of us willing to work and sweat and suffer and claw our ways to a better life.

The reason I care is because their actions and their choices have a very real impact on my life. We live in a community and as such, very often we pay for the decisions of others in our community.

A great example, I am almost 100% positive that I will never have children. I find children repulsive to the nth degree and wish to spend my time and life with adults. Yet, I am forced by our government to pay for their education. Why? Why should I be held responsible for paying for them in any manner? Other people made that choice and they should be forced to live with that decision. I should not have to pay for other people's choices.

Another example? My health insurance. My premiums went up and my co-pays went up this last year about 15%. The reason was because of larger medical claims in the pool of individuals at my company. A quick look around my office and I can tell you right now that at least 50% of the people that work here are obese. Being obese has very real costs and I'm forced to pay for their poor life choices.

I judge because they need to be judged. Remember, social pressure exists for a reason: to keep people in line, to keep them behaving, and to prevent them from making decisions that hurt the entire community. I care because they are impacting my life and, in many ways, making my life just a little bit worse.

But, most importantly, I care because they are destroying the last, great place to live on earth. The lazy, the entitled, and the envious. Every single issue in America today can be solved with a good, healthy dose of forcing people to take resposnsibility for their actions.

Are you obese? Well, that's YOUR fault (sure the foods that are peddled in America are almost all poison, but you choose to eat them).

Are you poor? Well, that's YOUR fault (unless you're a retard, there is no way you shouldn't be able to find a way to make more money and improve your lot in life...especially in America).

Do you lack education? Well, that's YOUR fault. Our government will give any idiot cash to get a better education (seriously, the stupidist people I've ever met I met in college...including graduate school).

The problem is that people are unwilling to endure the slightest bit of uncomfort or pain to achieve their goals. Success is directly measured by how much pain and discomfort you have endured in your lifetime. Ask a bodybuilder or a CEO and they'll tell you what they had to endure in order to achieve.

People in this country are weak and you can see it everyday when you walk outside.

You have optimism for America? Well, I am optimistic that she will remain the greatest land in the world. Relatively speaking we will remain 'on top.' But, from an absolute sense, we will continue to fall and further degenerate. Our culture will be thouroughly infected by entitlement and by lack of personal responsibilty.

What can turn things around? Shame. Make people feel shame for being weak, lazy, poor, stupid, etc. Shame people into better lives. Sometimes, a kick in the ass is better than a hand up...[/QUOTE]

great post. I agree with most of what you say, except on education. I think there needs to be public education reform. The politicians are purposely keeping the public uneducated. Sheep are easier to influence.

Don't believe me? Ask teachers that have taught for 20 years plus; there is a clear decline in education quality. You can even look at the teaching materials from times before (granted not all of the information was accurate), and you can also see a clear decline in difficulty.

Many Americans can't even read and/or spell, due largely to the poor education system. In the past, people were illiterate because they couldn't afford education. Today, people choose not to learn (and thus depend on others like me), and because the material taught in schools are of lower quality.

I still think education is important, and if we don't provide funds to educate the children that will be our future, we limit the possibilities of greatness. New ideas, new technologies, etc. We just need to do a better job of ensuring that the willing are given the best education possible. If they are unwilling to learn, then they are more than free to drop out.

THis leads me to my next point, social reform.

People must be held accountable for their actions. We need to stop hand feeding these degenerates. YOU drop out, then YOU get lower paying jobs and YOU suffer financially. This will force people to stay in school, get an education and become citizens that add value to the community, rather than being a leech.

So two things need to happen. Education and social reform.

If not, I feel sorry for my children, and their children's children....

[Guest]

Education has nothing to do with the dollars spent, it has everything to do with core values.

My mom hammered in my mind that education was important and guess what? I ended up with an MBA.

I agree that our education system sucks, but not for the reasons you and many others think. People think it's about money, it's not!!! It's about equality. That's right, I said it.

A class can only learn as fast as they slowest learner. Fact is that I spent almost all of my time in school educating myself. For example, my American history class in my second year of high school. The class only got as far as the Civil War. The second to last day of class, I was reading about Ronald Reagan's administration while the teacher talked about Abe Lincoln and shit that I had learned on my own months ago.

It's initiative. It's work. It's values. We pay a lot of lip service to education in the US, but it's all bullshit. The fact is simple: in America you don't really need to have an education to make it HUGE. It's sad, but it's true and too often kids hear about the star athlete or the guy that dropped out and started Wendy's (after working for the Colonel at KFC). These guys didn't have an education per sey. They struck it rich without one.

It's a cultural issue, not money.

The U.S. spends approximately $10K per student per year. That's $300,000 per classroom of 30. Where does that money go? Seriously? I doubt it costs this much to teach students how to add and subtract.

Our public education system is an immense failure. But, it's not because of money. Isn't that always the reason for failure in America? Lack of money? We've been throwing money at education forever and it's still a fucking joke? Why? Because money is almost never the answer to any problem. It certainly isn't here.

The answer always boils down to human behavior. If parents took responsibility for making sure their children learned as much as possible then the problem would be remedied immediately. But, parents these days are immense pussies. They want to be their child's friend, not their fucking MOM or DAD.

But, if you guys don't like the public education bend, then how about this one? When you file your taxes, you get to take a deduction on your return for the ones you have. This effectively lowers your tax rate. But, as a man with no children, I don't get the same deduction. Why? I pay a higher rate so you can pay a lower one because you have children. In short, I'm helping to subsidize your children. Is that fair? Nope.