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Saturday, January 8, 2011

The face of the nanny state

  In keeping with our theme below of unrealistic expectations, let's take a look at the world's fattest man.
  In their annual bid to make everyone feel fat and unhealthy after the celebratory reveling of the holidays, the life of this man, Paul Mason of England, was featured in a documentary on The Learning Channel on New Year's Day. 
  Surrounded by attractive, thin, solicitous female attendants, Mr. Mason's sad life was chronicled as he tries to make the journey back to normalcy. Having recently undergone bypass surgery, Mason is in the process of losing weight.
  The docu made mention of the fact that all Mason's expenses were paid by the national health service of Britain.
  The weekly cost to the state of maintaining Mason's lifestyle was at least $3,000, not including $50,000 for a gastric bypass or the emergency services required to attempt to transport Mason to the hospital for an additional surgery.
  Mr. Mason, a former postman whose job would have included exercise, eventually increased his daily intake of nourishment to 20,000 calories a day.
  Now Mason is suing the national health service in England that provided him with his expensive lifestyle, courtesy taxpayers, so undoubtedly the taxpayers will be coughing up more dough to pay their way out of the lawsuit. 
  He's suing because he feels that NHS should have sent him to the right doctors instead of telling him to ride his bike more often.
  So who is Paul Mason? How did he get into this situation?
  Though claiming a misdiagnosed eating disorder diagnosis in the lawsuit, now mason (excuse me, but my middle finger is simply too tired to capitalize his name) is saying that his heart was broken by an older woman and that is why he started eating so much. (Which is it? Which excuse?)
  The Daily Mail has a report on his latest story and a breakdown of costs and his dietary needs.
His breakfast alone would be enough to exhaust the appetites of most normal people, comprising an entire packet of bacon, four sausages and four eggs complete with bread and hash browns.
Lunch would involve quadruple portions of fish and chips along with two kebabs while Mr Mason would munch on roast dinners, curries, pizza and more chips for his evening meal.
Constant snacking throughout the day added to his astonishing calorie intake, with up to 40 packets of crisps, sausage rolls and pasties keeping his hunger pangs at bay in between his enormous meals.
  mason is claiming that his broken heart occurred 25 years ago, and that is what caused him to begin overeating. 
  He sustained his habit originally by stealing from the mail he was supposed to deliver, and then convincing his mother to take out a second mortgage when he got fired.
  While at one point he does say he did it to himself, the fact that he is unwilling to motivate himself to do anything to correct the problem speaks for itself, in addition to suing the NHS for not helping him in the right manner.
  While there is a significant waiting list in England for treatment through government health care, mason has his own television show, attendants to care for him, lots of attention, now a motorized wheelchair since he has lost weight due to the bypass, resources to sue the government and a public forum to cry about his sad life.
  Whenever you think of government entitlements, picture this man. 
  Somewhere in the indescribable and undefinable masses of his body, along with a forgotten toasted cheese sandwich snuggled under the largest belly fold, exists a real human being who could have been independent, who could have led a healthy life, who could have had normal relationships, who could have made a living and sustained a normal lifestyle.
  That person does not exist because the government bound this weak man to itself through free everything. 
  Free health care, free waiters to deliver the food directly to his bedside, free access to the outside world. Free everything.
  This, paul mason, is the face of government help. 
  This is what the government will do to any weak and unmotivated individual willing to accede personal authority to the nanny state.
  This is the face to remember. 
  There's never enough to feed this face.

(Okay, I resisted saying anything too nasty about this greedy selfish lying thieving idiot poor fellow but I can't help it. In my world, here's what should have happened. The people around mason should have said, "Hey, if your fat ass is too bulbous to get off the couch, then you're on a diet, sweetie! Ain't nobody gonna march 4 chickens over to you for lunch. Ain't nobody gonna go shoppin with 6 grocery carts just to pick up one day's eating for your fat ass. You on a diet, startin right now.")

2 comments:

  1. Whatever you think of this man, remember also that there are others who are fighting tooth and nail with issues that ARE beyond their control and are left with no other option than health care that is minimal. Rather than give a patient an MRI to find that it is a torn cartilege issue, they will pay for weeks of physical therapy...and eventually have to pay for the MRI that they were trying to avoid. Instead of paying for a simple root canal, they would rather pay for multiple fillings of the same tooth as it disintegrates causing pain on a daily basis, until it reaches a point where they feel they can't do anything other than pull it. No partial dentures to help keep you eating healthier foods, they would rather pay to end up yanking everyone of them due to keeping you on a soft foods diet. The system that was supposed to protect the wellbeing of the elderly and infirm is doing the bare minimum which in the long run is being much more expensive. While our congressmen pull 3figure incomes, we force our elderly who payed in to Social Security for more than 40yrs to get by on 20 or 30k. For those disabled before being able to pay into Social Security enough to be eligible for SSDI, we give SSI, which for a married couple is $1011/mnth. To an individual, we give $674. Have you tried living on $674/mth? These poor unfortunates are one emergency bill (such as car breakdown or family funeral)away from homeless. If you are so dead set against society paying for the excesses of the "nanny" state...take a good long look at what a senator makes, and his benefit package. Compare his benefits with anyone outside of a government office with the same level of schooling. I know PhD.s that work for less. Take a look at the costs of keeping our congress running, and then tell me why we are not taking care of the senior citizens that paid into Social Security and tell me why we are not giving a cost of living increase this next couple of years...as I watch the gas prices rise thru the ceiling. This guy is the byproduct of his own issues. The fact that he is abusing the system is not a reason to abolish the system. It is time to clean house. From the top down..Keeps the walls from streaking.

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  2. I agree with much of what you say. In fact, insurance companies are doing the same thing that the British welfare system is doing to people: avoiding necessary treatments by forcing stop gap measures.

    I'm sorry but I have great contempt for this man. YOU are in charge of your life. Look at the blind man who climbed the mountain. Did he not do it because he couldn't see? Anyone who uses and abuses the services of others to the point of becoming immobile deserves a drill sergeant who stands over him with a plate of healthy food and says, "No more until you get yourself straightened out."

    As far as Social Security goes...well, most of us are taking far more out of the system than we ever put in, as is also true for pensions. This needs to change. Certainly the government is not a good manager of money. I've seen people who make excellent salaries complaining that they need more, standing in the store holding some stupid piece of crap they don't even need. Save, save, save. Why don't we teach THAT in high school?

    Congress? I've railed against them endlessly. They're feathering their own nests. That's for sure. In the beginning, Congress was a part time job. Now look at what we have.

    And I too know PhDs who work for few $$. They should have thought about that before acquiring that diploma. Academics aren't necessarily the most valuable workers in the country. You don't call them when your toilet overflows.

    Yes, you're right. We sure do need to clean house. But to make possible this grossly overweight man's situation is appalling, wasteful and ultimately unfair. It seems to be the British way, but I hope it never becomes the American way.

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