You know Scrib, I find that I'm guilty of that very thing. I too have sometimes veered into "preaching" mode when trying to discourage people from smoking (can't stand the smell of smoke. At all).

It would make sense overweight go through it as well.

Well, to be fair, smoking has around 20+ years of research backing on its link to very specifically cancer and heart disease, while obesity has been researched for far less than that (and the data seem less conclusive). I see no problem in preaching others to stop smoking.

edited 23rd Apr '12 1:37:52 AM by IraTheSquire

I've noticed that smoking bothers my mother who used to smoke (but my father made her quit before they got married, which I'm grateful for) than me, someone who's never smoked and is not tempted to smoke. There are a lot of former smokers out there. I wonder if this has anything to do with anything?

No, its just expensive; I cut back when it cut into my booze fund.

I think it shows that as a society, we excel at berating people for their destructive habits, but not really at encouraging them to improve their lives.

As a non-American, I don't know of any good, non-destructive habit Americans can claim to be their own.

(Seriously though, any good "Amercian" habits?)

One thing I thought was a myth until recently (saw it on Mythbusters for a related Myth) is that Americans give candy to babies.

The problem seems to start young in America.

edited 23rd Apr '12 8:32:51 AM by Natasel

No such thing as a good American habit.

Once again, it's fashionable to paint America as the world's retard, but it's not so. Every country, including those in do-no-wrong Europe, screw up.

And that's the problem. It is human society overall that seems to believe in "bullying" people to "build up character". Hell, I try to avoid that, and as Scrib points, even well-meaning types veer into "preaching" and "brow-beating" territory.

Active useful encouragement is that far beyond us, it seems.

Let's not start painting nations in stereotypes now.

As someone brought up the point in how people have a bad habit of discouraging people, I think television shows are another part of this problem. On nearly every show, there HAS to be someone to be the bad guy or someone that has to be the Butt Monkey by being the show's resident failure. Just look at Brian from Family Guy; he's a character who, over time, became a douchebag and the audience wanted to see him fail. Once Brian started to fail, people wanted him to keep failing and suffer as much as possible just because of what he became. This is what is happening to overweight people in the United States; everyone thinks fat people deserve nothing but mockery, even if said fat people are trying to lose weight. People want to be above others, to feel better about themselves by putting other people beneath them.

I know it's already been brought up, but it would probably really help if the prices of healthy food were lower or at most equivalent to junk food. It hit me yet again when I compared beverages; a 64 oz jug of fruit juice costs 2.98, vs a 67 oz bottle of Wal-Mart brand soda at 84 cents. Even the cans of concentrate come in at around 1.20 or so, with none of the convenience of just being able to crack the bottle and pour. I shelled out the extra cash for cranberry juice, but I can afford it. If you're a parent trying to raise multiple kids on a budget, I kind of wonder if that's really any choice at all.

edited 11th May '12 6:49:46 PM by SuperHeroineAddict