Fatties Fighting Back


David Brooks and whoever this guy is have gone on the fatty offensive it seems. Is it just me, or is this just a facet of a larger trend, if you will, one that is also responsible for that bacon-fest known as the Atkins diet? Are Americans beginning to fully accept their excesses and begin shedding one of the last forms of guilt that I believe was in some measure responsible for american greatness? Say what you want about American prudishness, but how Spanish male drivers keep their eyes on the road with naked boobies on billboards everywhere is beyond me. Can you imagine what would happen if there was an open amsterdam-style red-light district in New York? Or hash bars in berkeley? Nothing would ever get done.

This slow dissolution of the Weberian protestant work ethic is somewhat disconcerting, but to be honest the american homeland has been ahead of the curve by at least decades. My dad when he went to school here in the 70's later commented that the average american woman looked like Roseanne Barr. Now that might be an exaggeration, but the recent trends and warm weather have induced scantier clothing patterns in the Georgetown female population. No doubt thanks to Paris Hilton (who her parents aught to be shot for picking such a coy name), exposed midriffs are all the craze, but while some expose a patch of continuous flesh, others have been rather oozing out of their low-waist jeans. There just simply must be a better way out. Tight sometimes just ain't right.

I guess the moral should be is that putting up such high physical standards no longer makes sense. Working out should be tempered and perhaps fun, not a training regiment fit for a marathon runner. America is certainly the land of excess, but whether or not that is a good thing is somewhat up for debate. I am sure that for previous empires, excess was the ultimate display of imperial success. I like the point Tierney (really, where did they dig him up from? Is he Safire's replacement?) made about how only the wealthy can afford the personal trainer, the nutrition plan, the tummy-tuck/stomach stapling. Is the underlying thing behind obesity is not how well fed you are, but rather how economically distinctive it makes you? If its more expensive to be thin in an america where you can stuff yourself for a couple of dollars a night, then that will be the desired ideal? Perhaps, but then again, my fat cats in the middle east don't seem to carry that baggage around. Well, I guess that is partially why they try to get married early, then go on lifelong binge towards heart failure.