Bill Maher : In August 53 people died from mass shootings, but 40,000 died from obesity.

[Walker1]

Probably hyperbole to get attention . But does obesity really kill so many people?

https://usatodaypost.com/just-last-month-53-americans-died-in-mass-shootingswhile-40000-died-from-obesity/

[+ FrankR]

Probably hyperbole to get attention . But does obesity really kill so many people?

https://usatodaypost.com/just-last-month-53-americans-died-in-mass-shootingswhile-40000-died-from-obesity/

It is very alarming - I see it every day here in NYC and around the country when I travel (and I do quite a bit). Portion size is definitely an issue. So is the consumption of convenient processed food. It is also the type of calories that you consume - banana vs banana milkshake; not just how many calories. Watch this space...

 

As for Bill Maher, well he does like to stir things up. ?

[maninsoma]

Obviously a statement intended to bring attention to himself. It isn't that it's false in its entirety (though obesity would be a contributing factor in other causes of death like a heart attack; obesity itself isn't the cause of death), but it isn't a compelling argument if he's trying to say that gun violence isn't a big problem because there are other causes of even more deaths. A lot more people are also killed in auto accidents. So what? What does that have to do with whether mass shootings deserve our attention?

[marylander1940]

Probably hyperbole to get attention . But does obesity really kill so many people?

https://usatodaypost.com/just-last-month-53-americans-died-in-mass-shootingswhile-40000-died-from-obesity/

 

It does and we keep subsidizing corn syrup!

 

Obviously a statement intended to bring attention to himself. It isn't that it's false in its entirety (though obesity would be a contributing factor in other causes of death like a heart attack; obesity itself isn't the cause of death), but it isn't a compelling argument if he's trying to say that gun violence isn't a big problem because there are other causes of even more deaths. A lot more people are also killed in auto accidents. So what? What does that have to do with whether mass shootings deserve our attention?

 

I think he’s pointing out another self-inflicted wound in our society

[+ E.T.Bass]

On one of his shows, Maher claimed that store bought bread is full of mold. Sometimes that guy acts crazy as Drumpf.

[rvwnsd]

How shall I make a point? I know! By equating mass murder with obesity.

 

Sheesh.

[Epigonos]

As I see it numerous habits that we once considered life style choices are now considered illnesses. Thus: smoking isn't a life style choice it is an illness and therefore not my responsibility; alcoholism isn't a life style choice it is an illness and therefore not my responsibility; drug addiction isn't a life style choice it is an illness and therefore not my responsibility; and obesity isn't a life style choice it is an illness and therefore not my responsibility.

More and more I see people refusing to take responsibility for their own lives. Everything that happens to them isn't their responsibility or fault it's somebody else's fault or responsibility -- excuses, excuses and more excuses. Yea, I know, I'm an unfeeling, uncaring asshole. Well so be it!!!!!

I agree 100% with Bill Maher on this one.

[maninsoma]

As I see it numerous habits that we once considered life style choices are now considered illnesses. Thus: smoking isn't a life style choice it is an illness and therefore not my responsibility; alcoholism isn't a life style choice it is an illness and therefore not my responsibility; drug addiction isn't a life style choice it is an illness and therefore not my responsibility; and obesity isn't a life style choice it is an illness and therefore not my responsibility.

More and more I see people refusing to take responsibility for their own lives. Everything that happens to them isn't their responsibility or fault it's somebody else's fault or responsibility -- excuses, excuses and more excuses. Yea, I know, I'm an unfeeling, uncaring asshole. Well so be it!!!!!

I agree 100% with Bill Maher on this one.

 

But being shot by someone, unless you are deliberately putting yourself in a position to be shot (like you are committing a crime yourself), is not your responsibility. I think it was quite nonsensical for Maher to bring obesity into the gun violence argument. It was a deliberate distraction from a serious issue.

[+ Keith30309]

They are both public health issues requiring action, particularly regarding children.

 

If I sit in a shopping mall food court Baskin Robbins and drink chocolate milkshakes all day that’s my problem.

If me and everyone else in that food court is shot with an assault rifle by someone who’s having a bad day then that’s our problem.

Edited September 21, 2019 by Keith30309

[Epigonos]

Maninsoma I agree that one cannot equate 53 innocent people dying by gun violence as the same as 40,000 people dying by complications from obesity. The point really is during that month which was the greater taker of lives. We march continually all over this country, as well we should, about implementing gun controls but how many marches have we had regarding implementing ways to control obesity - to the best of my recollection NONE. People find it easy to face the one but near impossible to face the other.

[rvwnsd]

Maninsoma I agree that one cannot equate 53 innocent people dying by gun violence as the same as 40,000 people dying by complications from obesity. The point really is during that month which was the greater taker of lives. We march continually all over this country, as well we should, about implementing gun controls but how many marches have we had regarding implementing ways to control obesity - to the best of my recollection NONE. People find it easy to face the one but near impossible to face the other.

No one marches about obesity because it is seen as the obese person's responsibility to the steps necessary to avoid or stop being obese.

[Becket]

This is the one that gets me: Six kids die this year of vaping. We gotta ban E cigs. Thanks Donald! Thousands die this year of gun violence. Yet we can't even CONSIDER touching gun laws. Hey Trump! You're the BEST!!!

[+ sniper]

How much if that figure is people who just died a year or two early, or if they did die very early, did so with a sudden heart attack and didn't at least linger for years costing hundreds of thousands of dollars? I mean, it's cheaper to die of a massive heart attack than to live long enough to have yearslong bouts of cancer.