ABC reported earlier this month on the results of a national survey conducted by a market research firm on the topic of obesity in America. The firm, NPD Group, asked 1,900 people across the country whether they found overweight people less attractive than those who weighed normal. They found that the amount of people in America who find overweight people unattractive is only about 24 percent, down from 55 percent when the same study was conducted 20 years ago. These results come as no surprise when one considers that about two thirds of America is overweight.

Many people have offered differing explanations for the results of this survey. Some attribute them to the increase in political correctness, according to the ABC story. They say that although it has become more accepted in the public forum, a strong stigma still surrounds overweight people behind closed doors.
Whatever the reasons, people do not seem to care as much as they used to about a person’s weight. Perhaps we have all become accustomed to obesity because it has been gradually increasing in frequency over the past 20 years. It is like when you see people every day you do not notice changes they undergo, but stay away for a week or a month and those changes become all the more obvious.

Maybe we just do not notice we are getting fat. I think a more likely reason is we do not care.

But there is no reason to care. Our society consistently caters to the minority fringe groups demanding acceptance. It has become OK to be different and even encouraged.
We are trained as a society to tolerate those with whom we do not agree. If a person chooses to advocate the destruction or enslavement of a certain race or religion of people, we ignore them politely and hope they go away. If someone chooses to live his or her life in an unhealthy way, we sigh silently and wish them the best even though we know they probably know better.

I am not saying that we should not allow these people to make their own decisions, but I am saying there should be consequences, real consequences, for those actions.
There should be a stigma surrounding overweight people. Acceptance is not something that everyone deserves. Since the dawn of man, we have used isolation and ostracism as forms of social control when people behave in ways that do not benefit the whole. Unity and cohesion are things that are built into our psychology as humans, and anything that challenges them mostly likely should be removed, especially if it is harmful to the group.

And believe me, obesity is harmful.

One does not have to be a doctor to understand the health risks that obesity poses. Diabetes, heart problems and arthritis are the first things that come to mind. Are we saying it is OK to place ourselves at risk like this? Is it OK to be overweight? According to this survey, I guess it is.

Shame on us all. We have stood by silently as America has eaten itself halfway to death. We pass by stores like Lane Bryant, Torrid and Casual Big & Tall and never give them a second thought. We super size, biggie size, go large and jumbo size until we cannot fit another bite in our mouths. We take up the diet of the month and think that eating no carbohydrates or all vegetables or whatever the next diet guru tells us to will make us fit and healthy.
We expect the quick fix. That is the quintessential problem with Americans. We do not like waiting for results. And what better way to expedite the task of getting in shape than to just stop caring? No work, no fuss and no guilt.

And therein lies the problem.

It is so much easier to just not care. We do it all the time. We have shown the world time and time again that we do not care about important subjects, like our own political processes, international issues like the tragedies in Darfur or the AIDS epidemic in Africa, or environmental concerns like the Kyoto Protocol.
It is a lot easier for Americans to just pretend these problems do not exist, and obesity is no different. The big difference between obesity and these other major issues is the problem of obesity has a very simple solution: eat healthy and get some exercise.

There is no trick to being healthy. People know when they are doing something unhealthy, but they usually do it anyway because often times it is the easier choice. Is it easier to make a sandwich at home and drink a glass of water or is it easier to run by Carl’s Jr. or McDonalds and pick something up on the way home? The answer is obvious.
We need to start caring about ourselves again. We need to let people know when we do not agree with them or their lifestyles. If they are still happy with the way they live their lives then more power to them, but at least they will know that other people are not. It is imperative that we change our attitudes concerning health and obesity. As I said earlier, being obese should never be OK. We should strive to be healthy. We should work for it, and work hard. Remember, anything worth having is never easily obtained.

I would like to propose a totally radical notion to all of you. Mind you, I came to this conclusion based solely on empirical evidence from my own experience, but I believe it still hold true in most, if not all, aspects of everyday life. I will lay it out for you all in no uncertain terms, but be warned, you may not like what you read. White people are becoming, if they are not already, the most discriminated group of people in America.

I know it is hard to believe. Many people would like to deny this fact, and some may even take up arms to challenge it, but its validity rings true for almost all Caucasian men and women. Any argument concerning a controversial issue, especially one where race is involved, automatically puts white people at a disadvantage.

Take, for example, the recent case of Stanley “Tookie” Williams. I won’t get into whether he was justly or unjustly put to death, but I would like to examine another aspect of the debate that raged between the proponents and opponents of his execution. Those who argued for his execution were often labeled racists and bigots, but that only occurred if they happened to be white. Two well-known people who were victim to this were LA talk show hosts John Kobylt and Ken Shampo of the John and Ken show on KFI 640 AM. The two, both white, were outspoken advocates for Williams’ execution. Several of Williams’ supporters like Jasmine Canek called John and Ken racists for their stance on Williams’ dilemma. While they were very fervent in their attacks on Williams and his supporters, they were just as aggressive with the cases of Scott Peterson and Robert Blake, both accused of murder like Williams.
But this is just one example of what I am talking about. Any outspoken opponent to any issue that can be linked to race is automatically labeled racist.

Don’t believe me? One only has to look to the current problem concerning illegal immigration. The problem at our borders cannot be ignored any longer. Every day, thousands of Mexican citizens cross the border illegally into the United States. The situation has gotten so bad that U.S. citizens have taken it upon themselves to help enforce border laws. I am referring to, of course, the Minute Man Project. Even at the conception of this group, they were being called bigots and racists. Every time Minute Men founder Jim Gilcrest went to speak at a public forum he was met with protests and people calling him a racist. Some incidents even became violent.

But the issue does not stop there. I have heard the proponents of border enforcement being called racists countless times on the news. It seems like this argument is becoming the default cry of pro-illegal immigration groups when people actually stand up to them. And you know what? It works every time. There is no defense against being called a racist, and the race card is as easy to use as anything. Once you are labeled a racist, that stain almost never goes away. It is the ultimate counter-argument.

“I believe the government should enforce the border laws,” one politician might say. “That’s only because you are a racist,” would be a likely response from a Latino group, or any other group for that matter.

In the pursuit of saving face and avoiding being labeled a racist, white people will often bite their tongues and forgo their constitutionally granted freedom of speech. They will sit idly by while people make absurd statements or sling wild accusations instead of challenging these ideas. They fear what they say may be taken out of context or seen as a personal attack instead of the argument they meant it to be.

I can tell you all this because these are the concerns I have whenever I am engaged in some kind of race related argument; I am white. I have been conditioned to tread lightly on controversial ground, to concede where available and to mask my true feelings, whatever they may be, behind a veil of understanding and compromise.

I have, in effect, censored myself numerous times so I would not offend other people. I have compromised my beliefs and myself in order to make other people feel better. But I am not alone. Countless others have suffered the same fate as I and have felt powerless to do anything. This breeds contempt in the affected party, namely white people, and does nothing but impede the progress of race relations.

Dialogue is crucial to any relationship, but insincere or censored dialogue only masks the true problem while providing a false sense of accomplishment. Race relations are no different. If white people are afraid of voicing their true opinions and concerns, there can be no progress. And white people are scared, believe me.

Dialogue is a two-way street. We cannot hope to make things better while white people are afraid to speak their minds, nor can we move forward with people pulling race cards. We have to hear each other and understand. There should be no compromise, no concessions. There needs to be a new understanding, and we can only come to that if we can repair our broken dialogue.

Last month, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida filed suit against a high school on behalf of a student who claims he was harassed and ridiculed by teachers and administrators for not standing and participating in the Pledge of Allegiance. The issue arose because of a Florida law that states students must receive written permission from their parents before they can refuse to recite the oath. The ACLU claims the law to be unconstitutional.

I do not believe the ACLU has a case. Children have few, if any, constitutional rights until they're 18. The rights of the parents supercede all of their rights, so Florida's law requiring permission slips seems reasonable. Americans do not like being told that certain members of the populace have no rights. However, there are three types of people who have no rights or whose rights are superceded by others: Children (under 18), those mentally unfit, and those in the military.

I do not buy the mentality of most people who turn their backs on the flag or who refuse to stand and salute it or participate in the pledge. Sure, they have their constitutional right to not stand, but their reasoning is usually questionable.
Most say they do not respect the actions America is taking, or approve of what the president is doing, or Congress, etc., so they do not stand. Or sometimes they have some kind of "understanding" that this is what America truly means.

The student in this case said he thinks the flag stands for "freedom, liberty, and equality." He claims the recent actions that America has taken have tarnished these tenets, and that is why he refuses to stand for the pledge.

If he truly believes the flag stands for “freedom, liberty, and equality,” why not respect it by standing respectfully and pledging his allegiance to that flag? There is no part of the pledge that says, "I pledge allegiance to the President of the United States of America." One pledges his or her allegiance to the country and the republic, not to any one individual. One is pledging himself or herself to the ideals of America, not to the people who run it.

People claim to have this bounding patriotism where they think they know, better than anyone else, what America means, and therefore do not have to participate with their fellow Americans. The pledge is something that is meant to unite us as a country, as a people. It is not meant to cause controversy.

I do not understand groups like the ACLU. They are constantly taking the stance that the individual is greater than the whole. But really, that is the stance of most Americans today.

Everyone thinks in the short term -- what is best for them at that moment. No one seems to consider the long-term effects of anything any more. We have a system now that rewards the least deserving members of society with respect, consideration, and praise.
If someone feels they are a victim of racism, sexism, sexual harassment, etc., they are, and nothing anyone can say can challenge their claim.

If someone says he or she is a victim, there are countless organizations that will take up their cause without the slightest regard for truth or circumstance.
We are in a sad shape in this country. This politically correct insanity is out of control, and it is time we all recognized it for what it is.

I still respect the ideals of America -- the philosophies upon which this country was founded. That is why I stand for the pledge. That is why I place my hand over my heart. That is why I truly believe the words I say. These people have a false notion of true patriotism. One does not defy the symbols of America, or even America itself and claim to be patriotic.

One ideal that our American school system is supposed to instill in its students is that of respect. The fact that this student would not stand for the pledge, even though every other student in the class was standing, shows me that he has little or no respect for the beliefs of his fellow students.

When someone wins a gold medal at the Olympics, his or her national anthem is played. Those who took silver and bronze, as well as the people in the audience, stand out of respect for that person and their country. Why can’t this student, as well as every other person that, for whatever reason, does not stand and recite the pledge, just stand quietly out of respect for the vast majority of people who do?

Even though it is someone’s constitutional right to refuse to stand and recite the pledge, I still believe it is very disrespectful to everyone else who does.