I have an idea for a stimulus plan for our nation. Tax all fast food restaurants. I’d say a rate increase of forty percent would be a good start. Next tax all soft drink manufactures (not in the case of real fruit drinks) at the same levels. Don’t forget to tax any prefabricated foods. I’d say increase tax on cigarettes but they’ve already raised my smoking cost by four times at least. Yup 4x what I paid last year (I’m actually o.k. with that). Also put the same level of taxation on video games.
Now this may sound absolutely ridiculous. Truth be told, it is a little bit nutty but I’ll explain my self. If you increase the cost to the fast food companies, soda, micro-wave foods and video games, you lessen the patronage. You’d say this is a bad thing I’m sure. But the effect would reach much further then just the number of employees that will be lost in the reductions to these industries. The first of the benefits would be that people would have to cook there own food. This would have such far reaching benefits. For-most would be the health factor (yup! we would lose weight). Next would be the benefit to the farming industry, and then would come the industries that manufacture cook-ware. Soon would be the growth to any industries that have to do with sports and fitness, from the manufactures of beach wares to the batting cages. And don’t for get the clothing industries (this would include the entire spectrum, manufacturing, delivery, sales) because, all the people who have now lost weight will need new clothes to go play or just show off there trim and fit body. A less obvious benefit will be the effect of the family dinner. Truly stimulating! Truly!
I say let people eat and be pigs if they want. The one thing that I say this is ok because we need to have the freedoms to do things, we just need to not have the government go out and pay for their care. Instead of taxing these things we need to find a way to get into the heads of people who have destructive lifestyles. If it isn't fast food that people use to fill that void, it would be something else. I don't have the answers, but my thought is that freedom comes first. It is not the governments job to shape behaviour through taxes.
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