Modern Plagues

Joe Doakes from Como Park emails:

My health insurance company requires me to take an annual health assessment and participate in a well-being program, to get a discount on my co-pay.  They are at the forefront of trendiness, of course, and Sitting Is The New Smoking, so getting me up and moving is all the rage.  Some thoughts:

 We can’t all be rail-splitters.  Some jobs require patient, focused, concentrated examination of documents.  That’s an activity not well-suited to bouncing on an exercise ball. 

 Labor-saving devices were invented precisely to avoid having to move, lift, bend or exert physical force over inanimate objects.  How far down must civilization devolve to suit the Phy Ed fanatics?  Is it enough if I make my wife scrub our clothes by hand in a tub or must she also carry the water in a bucket from Lake Como while I forage for dandelion greens in the park across the street?

 Glenn Reynolds, the Instapundit, is fond of saying “I’ll believe it’s a crisis when the people who claim it’s a crisis start acting like it’s a crisis.”  That’s a handy way to poke fun at global warming alarmists flying private jets to exclusive conferences.  But I can go one better:

 “I’ll believe Sitting is the new Smoking when Democrats tax it to fund a stadium.” 

 Joe Doakes

Look for people with sedentary jobs to get hit with fees via Obamacare.

Today’s jokes are tomorrow’s policy.