Right to Be Wrong

I might be singing out of key
But it sure feels good to me
Got a right to be wrong
So just leave me alone
-Joss Stone, "Right to Be Wrong"

You know something’s catchy when you find yourself saying, “Damn, why didn’t I think of that?” I mean c'mon: arguing for the right to be wrong? The powerfully poetic pun is always the writer's ever-elusive subject, and the songwriter's eternally desired companion.

Okay so call me a freakshow for reading a subliminal political message in Joss Stone lyrics. But methinks the talented young songstress, aside from penning the words to an amazing soul number, was on to something deeper than just externalizing teenage angst to R&B riffs. She might actually have been commenting, albeit unwittingly, on the now raging debate on the role of the federal government concerning our nation's alarming childhood obesity rate.

Think about it. Ever since the new campaign for childhood obesity prevention "Let's Move" was announced, Michelle-Obama-haters have been knocking the First Lady for “over-mothering” obese children all around the nation, and creating an initiative which, essentially, refuses fast food, soda and junk food companies the “right to be wrong.” True, singing out of key doesn't really harm anyone (though Simon Cowell might disagree). But junk food does. Should tone-deaf school boards be the only ones to decide what is sold to students on their campuses, even if what they decide hits all the wrong notes? Should the federal government "leave them alone"?

While we're on the subject of things being "wrong", if I may ask a naive question: Why would you offer to sell someone (a not-yet adult to be exact) something that will ultimately end up causing harm? I mean, yeah, telling American capitalists how to make money by throwing ethics out the window would be like preaching to a Grammy-winning choir. But it seems as though the lyrics to the song some right-wingers are chanting these days is really "the right to DO wrong".

Now, a government measure to prevent this particular right from being practiced, when you really think about it, isn’t so far-fetched right? We as a nation, and as members of the same species, have ostensibly agreed to refuse people the right to do wrong things. Like, oh, I don’t know, murder, steal, rape? It would be crazy to insist that legally restricting the freedom of people to exercise these kinds of rights is the bigger wrong, and that we should be protecting the right of businesses to sell and market harmful products to kids.

Which brings us to the philosophical and always necessary question: What is difference between right and wrong? And more importantly, who gets to decide what this very crucial difference is? Or to put it simply, where do you draw the line?
In regards to childhood obesity, it seems that we have at least reached a consensus that kids under the ripe old age of 10 who have the blood pressure of an overweight 56-year-old is a problem. Or a teenager weighing 400 pounds and feeling compelled to lose weight because she “wants friends” is where one might draw the line between healthy and unhealthy. Or right and just plain...wrong.

No, the obese child should not play victim and blame it on the system. Personal choice and responsibility play a huge role. But is a choice between Sprite and Coke, chips or fries, really a fair choice? The truth of the matter is that, in a plummeting economy, fast food is cheap, easy and, well, fast. And if obesity is indeed reaching the same number of people as the tobacco industries once did, using the same tactics (strategic taxing on unhealthy food products) might not be a bad way to go.

This issue is inextricably bound up with the issues of national healthcare, free market and federal government regulation of municipal activity (i.e. school food programs). You can't really talk about one without touching on the others. For now, I'll leave you with some neat tips on how to stay healthy while cooking at home. And for the soylovers out there, check out these tips on how to incorporate a healthier alternative to regular dairy into your diet.

Sadly, American Idol is losing the man who says what everyone is thinking but afraid to verbalize (possibly the sole reason I turn to Fox these days). But it seems as though, in the open audition for the Obese Child, our First Lady has sat down and made herself comfortable at the judge's table.