i ate a baby

What is the story with our fascination with fat people? I'm not talking about the slightly overweight, the solidly built, the big boned etc. I'm talking obese, lazy, two big macs and a diet coke, out of breath stepping onto a train then taking up two seats kind of fat.

First up I'd like to apologise to all fat people who:

eat in moderation,

eat only when they are hungry,

excercise regularly,

take the stairs where possible,

have legitimately done everything possible to be fit and healthy.

I don't want to offend people who have genuine problems, but I fear that there are not many with real problems, plenty who think they have a genuine problem, and even more who just don't care enough about themselves or anyone around them to think there is an issue.

TV is dominated by fat people. Biggest Loser, Honey We're Killing the Kids, Celebrity Boot Camp and countless other reality shows are focusing in on our big brethren.

These people are the product of our greedy, lazy and wasteful culture. "We" are fat and lazy in so many ways.

I found myself thinking recently about what would happen if tragedy struck, and the population was thinned out (ha ha) by an epidemic. Lets say bird flu did what the doom sayers think could happen, but more importantly, that economies around the world collapse as a result, and people are forced back to subsistance living. Each person would have to contribute to the means of production and very importantly would have to phsically contribute to the production of food.

Subsistence living

Imagine actually working for each morsel on your plate and actually needing it to fuel the body in order for it to be in good enough shape to go out and work for the next meal. No room for couch sitting, remote control jockeying, potato chip eating observers. If you don't work, you don't eat. No short order chefs, shop assistants, fast food child slave workers to do everything for you.

I looked around me and thought that most of the people in my city (Melbourne) would die, or at best, have a really tough time adjusting.

I can shoot, use a bow and arrow, skin a rabbit, catch and gut a fish and identify some edible wild plants, and I think I would have a really tough time without gadgets, email, a service industry and a cushy job.

We're soft, we're lazy, we're obsessed with luxury and ignorant of the basic, subsistence elements of life. Why celebrate it? Why not celebrate "My Big Fat Organically Grown Pumpkin", or "Fresh Food on a Budget"?