Is Obesity The Government’s Business?

God, I am tired of the level of discourse in the world today. It appears to me most ‘debate’ has descended to little more than character assassination and pithy sound-bites that might feed the heart, but starve the mind.

Here’s something different.

Intelligence Squared is a group of folks who put on Oxford-style debates. They poll the audience on a question, gauge their responses, and then let two teams of two people debate the topic for 40 minutes or so. Then the audience votes again. The side that changed the most minds wins.

I’ve listened to these shows for a while now, but recently heard one that you folks who stop by this blog might have some interest in: Is obesity the government’s business? This is from a debate held February 7, 2012 including:

• Dr. Pamela Peeke, WebMD’s chief lifestyle expert, is a physician, scientist and expert in the fields of nutrition, metabolism, stress and fitness.
• Dr. David Satcher served as the 16th surgeon general of the United States and published America’s first “Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity.”
• Paul Campos is a law professor at the University of Colorado in Boulder and author of The Obesity Myth: Why America’s Obsession with Weight is Hazardous to Your Health.
• John Stossel, the host of Stossel on the Fox Business Network, has received 19 Emmy Awards and has been honored five times for excellence in consumer reporting by the National Press Club.

If you’ve got the time, I recommend listening, which you can by clicking here. And if you find the notion of an intelligent debate on other topics interesting, you can find a lot more at their website or their YouTube Channel.

It sure the Hell beats the feeling of mental deterioration that comes over me when ‘Housewives of Orange County’ comes on the tube.