"Hip, Hip, Hooray! China has experienced an impressive growth in middle-class consumer spending!" That's generally seen as a 'good thing' in economics. But let's just take a moment to see what the consequences have been - or, in other words, what are the Chinese spending their money on? For one - they spend more money on crappy food that's filled with sugar. This is great news for companies like KFC, Coca Cola and McDonalds. The thing is, China has also been experiencing an explosion in Type 2 diabetes - the kind that is linked to bad eating habits, obesity and sedentary lives. So, yes - it kind of sucks for the Chinese, but it's again good news for the pharmaceutical companies - because all diabetes-patients have to be treated, and that means 'big bucks' for the pharmaceutical industry.
The same pattern occurred in America - where Diabetes, obesity and heart conditions have become a major health problem. Why? Same story: too much sugar.
So - what's the deal with sugar? You have to distinguish between glucose, fructose and sucrose. In short - sucrose is what you think of when you hear the word 'sugar' - the stuff you put in pastries or your coffee - and is made up of both glucose and fructose. Glucose is the 'good kind' of sugar, which the human body requires. Fructose is the 'bad kind' - it is a poison to the human body with many harmful effects. Now - most of your processed foods contains 'high fructose corn sugar' - and yes, you guessed it - it means your food is full of fructose - tastes good, but is addictive and toxic.
Now - aren't there scientific studies being done on these types of health-hazards, where, if certain foods have been established to be harmful, it'll have governments place a ban on those foods? Sure, though - as with everything - research requires money and those who fund the research own the results.
Who dominates the scene when it comes to research into sugar in the human diet? The Sugar Association. Who is the Sugar Association:
"The Sugar Association, founded by members of the U.S. sugar industry, began in 1943 as the Sugar Research Foundation, dedicated to the scientific study of sugar's role in food and communication of that role to the public. In 1947, the Association assumed its current name. Initially, the Association had two divisions: Sugar Information, Inc. focused on public education and communication; the Sugar Research Foundation developed and supported basic and applied scientific research. The Research Foundation became the World Sugar Research Organisation, Ltd., in 1968. The Sugar Association continues with its mission of educating health professionals, media, government officials and the public about sugar's goodness. "
The 'World Sugar Research Organisation' is created by the very people who profit from sugar being consumed: The sugar industry. Start seeing the problem?
In 1976, executives of the Sugar Association received the Silver Anvil award for excellence in 'the forgoing of public opinion' - which is kind of like an Oscar in the PR world for telling lies. I mean - public opinion is supposed to be what guides policy-making in democracy - and yet, these guys are being applauded for suppressing public opinion in relation to all known facts about sugar.
Their main aim has been to show that there is no conclusive evidence that sugar is harmful to the body and shouldn't be cut out from the diet or restricted in terms of consumption. They've perpetuated a general confusion about all sugar-related health problems that have been identified. How? Through only funding the type of research that promotes sugar (for instance by trying to prove sugar can somehow assist with depression), through funding research only as long as they have no conclusive evidence. For instance, if the scientists indicate that if they have another x amount of weeks to continue their research, they'll be able to provide irrefutable evidence that sugar is harmful - they'll make sure no more funds are made available to the study, so that the results remain somewhat inconclusive. When independent scientists do research, they'll declare the methods and results as being unscientific or meaningless. And so on and so forth.
If you go to their website (http://www.sugar.org/) - on the very first page - you'll immediately see their tactics at work in the little 'flash' messages on the left. I mean - "Sugar has been part of the human diet for 2,000 years" - like that's supposed to mean something. Or - "Sugar makes healthful foods taste good which leads to increased intakes of key vitamins and minerals" - LOL!
Their research on certain sugar-substitutes is actually what had them being banned in the USA! Obviously, if people buy substitutes of sugar instead of the 'real deal' - the sugar industry suffers. So, to take out the competition, they declared certain substitutes as harmful. Later studies showed that these results were bogus too.
So - now y'all liberal economists explain to me how this type of crap - which is obviously caused and perpetuated by the free market and profit-principle - has somewhere an 'invisible hand' in it that makes the outcome what is best for everyone! People are being manipulated, abused and lied to - to the point where the big guys don't care whether you live or die - literally. It's okay for you to eat poison, as long as it makes them money.
As long as we maintain a capitalist, market-driven economy, these scams will continue to dominate our lives and any form of democracy will be meaningless. It's time to destroy the incentive for hidden agendas through a transparent economic system of resource allocation and information distribution, based in the principles of what is truly best for all - which is what the Equal Money System is all about. Go cast your vote and give us your input at www.equalmoney.org!
By the way - there are signs indicating that Africa's consumption spending is on the increase. So - Africans - DON'T SPEND YOUR MONEY ON SUGAR AND PROCESSED FOODS. If you do, you'll end up having to pay ten times as much for covering the costs of your medical bills afterwards!
If you're currently suffering from Diabetes - I suggest reading Paul's Journey to Life for support.
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