Laziness should never pay off - High Taxes on Junk Food a Matter of Course

Please note that this is the first draft, and can and may be changed until Sunday. Also please note that it seems impossible to use 1.5 line spacing here, thus resulting in very cluster-like paragraphs. I seem unable to use indentation here on top of that. :(

Junk food is threatening our society in several ways, both principal and economical. In an ideal situation no one would prefer junk food over real, and healthy, food simply because junk food is harmful in several ways. Overweight children are getting bullied on regular basis, often because their ignorant and irresponsible parents feed them with junk food rather than cooking a proper mean, thus resulting in an unwanted fain of weight of the child. The free healthcare system in Sweden is both positive and negative depending on the situation; however when it comes to health problems related to junk food we can all agree that the current system is something negative. Junk food in addition to other activities or rather lack of activities often seen at junk food consumers such as not working out and consuming other unwholesome things such as sweets and coke will eventually result in increased blood pressure and perhaps even thrombosis or diabetes. This problem can be halted, or even prevented, by drastically raising the taxes on junk food and at the same time lowering the taxes of plain and healthy food.

No parents would like to see their children bullied at school, and no children would possible enjoy the experience of being bullied. This is one reason why junk food is such a menace at this very moment, as more and more children are being bullied because of their unnatural weight. Naturally this is not only the case for children, grown-ups are experiencing the same problem. One simple solution to this issue is for parents to take their responsibility of letting their children grow up without having to fear harassment and persecution at any time. By refusing to feed their children with junk food, and at the same time making sure their children get the recommended amount of physical exercise for their current age is one step in the right direction regarding this issue. This is merely common sense, and surely people wonder why this is still happening on such a large scale.

The reasons for this maltreatment of children have been looked at before, and concluded to be nothing but laziness and weakness of the parents. Junk food is quite cheap, and creates a fake sense of stilling hunger since the food often contains so much fat and salt and at the same time often tastes sweet (a taste which children are especially vulnerable to), which may be the reason why it is so popular. However normal food does not have to be very complicated and expensive, which is common bias against it; with some effort the average person can cook a very good and healthy meal in less time than one hour, which every parent should be able to spare for their children if they care about their health and future well being. Plain food does not have to taste badly, however children often have a negative attitude towards new food, something which can only be overcome by having the child trying the food and analysing what the child does not like about it. The problem may be either the smell, the consistency or a specific taste you can overcome by applying a sauce or even different spicing to the food. The big problem identified here is the weakness of many parents and their negative attitude towards taking strong stands on various matters regarding their children. In other words, many children can and will bend the line of their weak-minded parents to get their wish through (in this case not eating the food served and perhaps getting something else to eat instead).

Growing an obsession with junk food at an early stage is extremely dangerous and it is one of the biggest reasons we have so many overweight children and teenagers at this day. Not only may the child face harassment and other children at school or elsewhere, but the very health of the child when he/she grows up is at stake. The risk of encountering various blood and heart related illnesses are so much higher if you have high blood pressure and an abnormal amount of of fat in your veins, which may develop to a thrombosis. Living in Sweden, this is not only the concern of actual victim of the illness, but also for all taxpayers. The healthcare is largely paid by the Swedish state with money from taxes and seeing your tax money vanish in thin air is never pleasant and thus it is for the best of every citizen if this problem can be halted, or even prevented before anything happens, which is easiest done at an early stage. At the same time living in a Capitalist society where money plays a huge role in most decisions, simply raising the taxes of junk food and other non-healthy food and sweets drastically will force people to look for a cheaper source of food. If you at the same time reduce the taxes of plain and healthy food the change is implemented, and the majority of people will not eat as much junk food, or stop eating junk food completely, and an ideal situation is created. Fewer children will have issues related to their weight, thus reducing the chance of being harassed and bullied because of their appearance. At the same time overweight grown-ups will not face same risk of catching illnesses related to their blood pressure and illnesses and diseases related to abnormal intake of sugar, salt and fat.

To conclude this we can state that everyone, except the fast food producers and the chains of fast food restaurants, will benefit in one way or another by raising the taxes of junk food and reducing the taxes of plain and healthy food. Children will grow up in a much safer and healthier environment, facing less risk of catching nasty diseases and illnesses related, in one way or another, to junk food and also less likely to fall victim of bullies and other harassment related to their weight. The people already living a healthy life will benefit and rejoice by seeing the nation develop in several areas such as education and science as a result of the state not having to throw tax money on non-existent or very uncommon diseases and illnesses. This in particular would help profiling Sweden, and other countries having free healthcare, as a nation where science and education is regarded important enough to use most of the tax money on.