Moral Responsibility, in 16 oz or Less

Recently New York City passed a rule that bans restaurants from selling sugary drinks in large containers. There have been some surprisingly strong reactions supporting and opposing the ban. Those in support say that we are facing a health crisis with more and more people (including, and most alarmingly, children) developing obesity and diabetes, so this effort to limit a major contributor to those conditions is much needed. Opponents say, “It's sad that the board wants to limit our choices” (Liz Berman, a business owner and chairwoman of New Yorkers for Beverage Choices).

I will admit that when the story first flashed through my brain, I had similar thoughts as Ms. Berman, or at least, I thought it was weird to regulate something like soda. However…what the supporters of this rule say is true. I can't argue with the fact that soda is full of sugar and empty calories, both of which can and do wreak havoc on our health. So the real question is, should the government be responsible for controlling our intake? Ms. Berman’s answer to that is, “We are smart enough to make our own decisions about what to eat and drink.”

At first I didn’t care so much about this issue. I don’t like soda much anyway. But now that I’ve read that claim—that we are smart enough to make our own decisions—NOW I care.

OBVIOUSLY WE ARE NOT smart enough. We are not smart enough not to drink so much soda that we throw our blood sugar out of whack, or drink alcohol to the point of liver disease, or smoke cigarettes until we get lung cancer. If we were smart enough, these things would not happen.

But there’s a bigger issue here, and it goes beyond each person’s physical health. Another opponent of this ruling made this statement: "This is my life. I should be able to do what I want." Sure. This is America. People died and sacrificed so that we’d have a country where we can be free from government oppression. But let me speak plainly. We are not free from moral responsibility. Like it or not, in life some actions are right and some actions are wrong. People really, really want to pretend that’s not so, but I’m sorry, friends…it is so. Now, drinking soda is not really a moral issue, but let’s continue with the example anyway. Let’s say I do drink tons of soda, to the point where my health is affected. I have to start going to doctors and taking medicines, all of which, if I’m lucky, my insurance will cover (at least in part). But they have to make money somehow, so they charge everyone more than they had to pay, so even though I drank the soda, others are affected.

In case anyone wants to discount my underlying point because my brief example is (admittedly) a little extreme, I’ll be more direct. I have a friend who decided one night to have some drinks. On his way home, he crashed into a house, totaling his car and causing property damage to someone’s home. He’s overage; he’s allowed to drink. And after all, it’s his life, right? But now this family has a damaged house because he made this choice. There’s more. Because of the accident, the police were summoned, and my friend was arrested. He spent the night in jail. His mom got to come down and bail him out. You better believe she was affected by his choice. She, my friend, and their whole family were so distraught and scared and full of remorse that they couldn’t eat or sleep for days. Even I got to take part in these events. I spent a whole day taking my friend to meet with his lawyer; I had to take him, because, if you recall, he no longer had a car or a license to drive, because he used his freedom to choose to drink.

Here’s another example: I knew someone who chose to look at pornography. He wasn’t looking at anything against the law, and he wasn’t making anyone else look at it, so he was free to make this choice. But he was so affected by his choice that his marriage fell apart, and he lost most of his friends. If you think this guy was the only one affected by his choice, I promise you are wrong.

Bottom line: Just because we CAN do something doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do or even okay to do. Just because someone accidently leaves her car unlocked doesn’t mean it’s okay to go in and steal her iPod. Just because you’re old enough and allowed by law to smoke doesn’t mean it’s okay to spread the carcinogenic toxins throughout your home and into your kids’ lungs. Just because a man and a woman are physically able to have a baby without getting married doesn’t mean it’s the right way to go about it. Moral laws are given, not to limit our freedom, but because following them is what is best for us—for everyone—and we will be happiest when we do.

It is a little sad that the government has to pass rules like the ban on large sugary drinks, because we should be smart enough to make our own good decisions.