Healthy, Wealthy, and Wicked

The moralisation of semaglutide weight loss is nothing new.

As of writing, these drugs (Wegovy, Ozempic, Mounjaro) still need refinement. They do not yet come in oral form and must be injected.

Yet, I am surprised by how short the lag has been between their introduction and the emergence of moralistic concerns. i.e.:

• They constitute an 'easy way out' of healthy lifestyle choices.
• They exemplify, perpetuate, and exacerbate economic inequality. (Post-2020, everything is apparently about economic inequality.)

I have good reason to think this tiresome chatter will pass.

via GIPHY

Why?

No Gain

I take statins to control my high cholesterol.

Thirty years ago, my daily Lipitor would brand me in the eyes of many as lazy and privileged.

High cholesterol had long been considered a diet problem and therefore a personal choice. When statins were discovered, medical researchers joked that fast food chains could serve a "McStatin" to offset oily cheeseburgers, a moral hazard that gave gluttony a free pass.

Simultaneously, there was hand-wringing about that free pass only being available to the rich who could afford the drugs and associated testing. This, as research suggests, would lead to a future where only the 'haves' would be able to afford richer diets and lower cholesterol levels, leaving the 'have-nots' with neither.

What happened?

No Pain

Statins and blood tests became cheap. When no one was locked out of that choice it became a real choice. When it became a real choice it became a widespread choice. People dislike moral arguments that impugn their choices, so they dropped them.

Today, only a few crackpots tell me to forego the pills in favour of more salmon and squats. (Unfortunately, I'm related to some of them.)

Of course, there are differences between the conditions of invisible cholesterol and highly visible weight change. But the arguments made by disciplinarians and bleeding-hearts are boringly similar.

Kate Moss said, "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels." She was referring to abstinence, but I like to think it can be re-applied to enduring painful injections of medication and gossip.

Likewise, I would rather be alive to hear dissers than not.

It's only a matter of time before self-rightous scolding is further eroded by progress.