The free market and the health of our diet

The more I examine the unregulated capitalism our country practices, the more I realize it has far greater downside than upside. It is the fuel driving the wars in the middle east, and has been in other wars for quite some time. It is the reason that little is being done to respond to the warming of our planet, as such a response is costly and unprofitable. And it is, among other failings, the reason that there are so much poor on this planet, starving when the means to feed do exist.

I digress though, into another harmful bi-product of capitalism, and want to focus on one of the main arguments in favor of the unregulated market. Capitalists argue that because of the unregulated market, there is a great deal of variety available to consumers, and that it's capitalism that has flavored the market. But there is a very real pun intended in that statement. Because of capitalism, the quality of the product is often shoddy. Profit has that funny effect, as costs are kept low to make the most money. Consider the fast food industry, and with that all processed foods. Consider this report.

http://www.newstarget.com/022194.html

The western diet is one laden with heart disease and cancer, which should be no surprise considering the artificial ingredients and chemicals added to processed foods in the fast food industry. But why are they added? Well, one could argue flavor, but most would agree that a fresh patty cooked at home on a grill is better tasting than any burger that could be bought at McDonald's, Burger King or Wendy's. Plus there were ingredients used in fertilizers and unapproved for feline consumption mentioned in that article used in these foods. Fast food chains add these ingredients to make up for the poor quality of meat used in the burger. Beef is expensive. It requires vast amounts of land for cattle grazing, which leads to it's own form of environmental degradation, and large amounts of resources to raise a cow from birth to slaughter. Beef is the single most expensive product in the typical hamburger, so by lowering that expense by adding cheaper artificial ingredients, the fast food chains are able to harvest larger profits at the expense of the health of the consumer by selling something resembling food which still tastes good. And because fast food chains are able to keep their costs so low, they are able to sell products that are relatively affordable. Furthermore, since fast food chains are so prevalent and appeal to our lazy consumerist culture, westerners remain unaware of or unconcerned with the harm they are ingesting, desensitized to the seriousness of the situation.

See competition isn't always good. Many times the bar is lowered rather than raised through the production of goods. Because of the unregulated market, fast food franchises are inclined to make every attempt to maximize profit. Concessions are made for the sake of our economy, and as a result, the masses are mass fed a diet which is intended for profit, despite the fact that healthier, less profitable alternatives exist. If the focus were shifted away from the end all be all importance of profit, higher quality products would be created as there would be no incentive to cut corners. This would come if there wasn't as high of a concentration of wealth in our ruling class, who cut these corners to feed their greed. It is revulsive what occurs in the name of profit in this country. Our economic system just isn't working and we're now more than ever in dire need of a change. We should demand more for ourselves when the means do exist. It's simply immoral to sell such low quality, unhealthy foods which lead to disease and obesity on such a wide scale basis. This is the capitalism our leaders won't speak of, and the reason the system can't work.


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