July 29, 2008
More nannying (and racism) from the left coast
It seems the city of Los Angeles has decided to impose a ban of fast-food restaurants. But don't get ahead of yourselves. Not everywhere, just in low-income neighborhoods:
L.A. blocks new fast-food outlets from poor areas
Jul 29, 5:22 PM (ET)
By Christina HoagLOS ANGELES (AP) - The Los Angeles City Council has approved a one-year moratorium on new fast-food restaurants in a low-income area of the city.
The moratorium unanimously approved Tuesday is a bid to attract restaurants that offer healthier food choices to residents in a 32-square-mile area of South Los Angeles.
Councilwoman Jan Perry says residents at five public meetings expressed concern with the proliferation of fast-food outlets in the community plagued by above-average rates of obesity.
Nearly three-quarters of the restaurants in South L.A. are fast-food outlets. That's a higher percentage than other parts of the city but the restaurant industry says the moratorium won't help bring in alternatives.
It's bad enough that they think banning fast-food is okay and that being paternalistic is okay and that telling people what they should be eating is okay. In addition to all that, they are too stupid and self-righteous to realize they (and lots of fellow liberals) are nothing but racists. Let me have our good friend Steve Graham from Hog on Ice explain it. This is pure conservatism folks. Read and learn:
Let White Folks Tell You What to Eat: Los Angeles Decides Only Caucasians are Smart Enough to Design Their Own DietsHave you read about this? The Los Angeles city council has approved a one-year ban on new fast food restaurants...that only applies to minority neighborhoods.
Did I just wake up in a George Orwell novel? Can this really be happening?
Here is the rationale. People in South Los Angeles are 50% more likely to be obese than people elsewhere in the city. And about 45% of restaurants in that area serve fast food. Therefore the answer is to take the fast food away from them. I know I'm crazy, but it seems to me that the only real solution to obesity is personal responsibility. Let me go even farther. I think minorities have the same right to decide what they eat as Caucasians. I guess I should be locked up.
This ban is blatantly racist. Once again, leftists are showing us they think minority members are too stupid to take care of themselves, and because leftists lack the ability to perceive their own faults, they don't even realize they're doing it. If a leftist does a thing, it can't be racist. You have to wonder how far that principle can be pushed. Maybe in a few years, black people and Mexicans in Los Angeles will be required to turn in their driver's licenses, so they can lose weight by walking. Hey, it would be healthy. And think of the lives that would be saved, because fewer drivers will be on the road, having accidents.
The sad thing is, minority activists probably won't even perceive the racism. They're so used to milking the big white Santa Claus, they'll think this offensive paternalism is "progressive" and enlightened.
If I were black or Hispanic, and I lived in Los Angeles, I'd be irate. And I'd be very worried about "helpful" ideas the council might foist on me in the future.
Liberals think "the soft racism of lowered expectations" is a canard. They think it's something conservatives say in order to avoid helping minorities. And regrettably, a small faction of true racist idiots infests the political right, and sometimes their set of hateful, stupid ideas intersects with the well-intended set of ideas of the conservative mainstream. But overall, conservatives are sincere and right when they say the left treats minorities like children or as if they're slightly retarded.
Fast food restaurants locate in poor neighborhoods because they serve food the poor can afford. You can't put a Spago on every corner in Compton and expect good results. And you don't have to get fat just because you eat fast food. Companies like Wendy's and McDonald's realized a long time ago that they needed to offer stuff that was healthier and lower in calories, and those items are available right now. Everyone remembers the famous case of the woman who got mad at propagandist Morgan Spurlock, decided to eat at McDonald's every day, and lost weight. And you don't have to eat fast food; any fool with two pots and a stove can cook. And if you choose to eat fast food and be fat, that's your right.
Minority members are going to have to decide whether or not they want to run their own lives. Consenting to the heavy-handed mothering of the leftist state means giving your rights away. If you live in South L.A. and you're not offended by the fast food ban, you don't realize how little respect the ban's proponents have for you.
These are the times we are living in folks: when do-gooders, compassionate, tolerant liberals, insult Blacks and Hispanics by telling them they are too stupid to know what's good for them.
Posted by George Moneo at July 29, 2008 11:35 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.babalublog.com/cgi-bin/mt/hut.cgi/8966
Comments
Very interesting perspective. To me, I see it as a community that has to force itself to look at other options. It could possibly open the eyes for people, and look at healthier options.
Of course I used the word "force" which is practical coersion. The negative side I saw in this is that a government shouldn't have a right to control where a business should be. But then I read Steve Graham's perspective on this, and never thought of the racial implications. It totally opened my eyes.
Posted by: j2tharome ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.babalublog.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at July 30, 2008 12:33 AM
What you've missed, j2tharome, is that they're not rolling back existing fast food joints. They're simply giving them a monopoly in the market. It simply will not force anyone to "look at healthier options".
This of course totally ignores the idea that one can walk into a Wendy's (or McD's) and order a salad.
Further, it puts a crimp on any mom & pop shop that might want to open up. One may no longer open a taco shop - it's fast food, you see. No, you have to be able to open up a non-fast food establishment.
And then what, j2tharome? will the city come in and "inspect" and "approve" the menu? let's face it, that will happen sooner rather than later.
Posted by: I R A Darth Aggie at July 30, 2008 09:00 AM
Why should this be a surprise, we saw this coming from the first days of the smoking bans. The sad part is, that minorities are so entranced with the promises the left makes them, that they have sold their collective souls in order to get whatever it is the left is supposedly giving away. Too late will they realize that they have given away a good portion of their freedoms so they could be coddled at somebody elses expense. Will it be too late at that point to change? Yes, I think so.
Posted by: Pepi at July 31, 2008 01:53 PM
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)
