NYC has implemented a soda ban. Says Herr Blumberg,

We’re not taking away anybody’s right to do things, we’re simply forcing you to understand that you have to make the conscious decision to go from one cup to another cup

What else do you statists need force to understand. Free minds want to know...

Link ?

I have absolutely no idea what this story is about and your post hasn't really helped me.

Sorry. I forgot. Editing now.

So, reading the linked article...

It's not a 'ban' then?

“It’s not perfect, it’s not the only answer, it’s not the only cause of people being overweight – but we’ve got to do something,” said Bloomberg. “We have an obligation to warn you when things are not good for your health.”

This is a very disingenuous statement. He isn't warning so much as attempting to control individual choice through coercive legislation. I don't really have a problem with the state mandating health warnings but this goes too far in my opinion.

16oz is not that low a limit though. It seems a bit much to limit it to a pint, especially the small American one, but who drinks over a pint of soda at one time?

We don't drink soda in pints. So you think it's ok for the state to dictate how much soda you drink? That's not insane?

but who drinks over a pint of soda at one time?

Danivon, you've got a lot to learn...starting with the Big Gulp!



Btw, I'm not a big soda drinker. I prefer Gatorade (not to be confused with the Haterade in the other thread)

Nothing in it stops someone drinking more than 16oz. They would have to get more than one serving, that's all.

Not that I recall saying I agreed with it. Just that it seems low (which should signal disagreement) while not being likely to be a huge curtailment of the freedom to drink a gallon of sugary water with artificial colours and flavours. Ok, so they'd have to buy 8 servings rather than just one bucket, but hey, it's not really that exciting.

So, we've established it isn't a ban on soda. We've also established it isn't a limit on how much soda someone can drink, it's a limit on serving size to a US pint, 16oz.

If it were a proper pint (20oz), I might favour on the principle of using the right measures, as long as bars would also be serving beer to the same measure as well.

danivon wrote: but who drinks over a pint of soda at one time?

Well, when I was working I would sometimes buy a 44oz soda at lunch time (noon) that would last me until it was time to go home (4:30). Of course, I was over 200lbs at the time so that probably wasn't such a good idea

The very nature of this tells me that it's less to do about health than it is about getting more taxes. No more free refills on the big gulps. See, C-stores like to sell those because it keeps the customer coming to their c-store. A free refill of soday on a 44 or 64 oz drink is a heaven send to laborers. Again, I odn't get it, but that's them not me.

It also provide extra advertising revenues, as you see someone walking around with a big gulp, it's likely to make someone go get one if they're partial to those.

Laws are rarely, if ever, written to the benefit of those they are "protecting"

I don't have a problem witht his law. A huge portion of health care costs go to people suffering from chronic diseases, many of which are caused by poor eating habits. Yes, in principle I believe everyone should be able to eat what they want But the reality is that people who get obese wind up costing more health care dollars than they contribute to their own care. So government, unless it wants to go bankrupt from spending on health care, needs to make some steps to discourage eating habits that are going to cause chronic disease. Just as tobacco gets taxed very highly because of the enormous health problems they create, other things (like sugar drinks, fast food items, etc) will need to be taxed as well. Remember, you are almost certainly paying taxes to subsidize those with poor eating habits.

I don't want to present this as being an "us" vs "them" type argument. The reality is that the modern U.S. diet with a lot of per capita soda consumption and fast food consumption is correlated with high chronic disease rate. It is prudent of government to reduce the number of persons who have chronic disease by taking reasonable steps to reduce consumption of high fat, high sugar items

Why do they not limit the number of cigarettes people buy?

Freeman, it sounds to me like you have an issue with healthcare, not the soda. So why blame soda for it? That's why Libertarians, like myself believe that all of this is wrong. In principle, you believe that people should be free to choose, but since we're not free in all areas we should restrict more? How does that help.

In other words, the problem is distributed costs, not individual behavior. So why not address the actual issue, instead of creating a law that will create a slew of other problems?

bbauska wrote:Why do they not limit the number of cigarettes people buy?

Well in Germany, they have price controls. It's sort of the opposite. Cigarettes MUST be price XX. So, cigarette companies adjust the number of cigarettes in a pack. You get 17 instead of 20 in some cases. In others, it's less.

There's no end to the silliness of statists.