Obesity is one of the scourges that threaten our health. Each his own.
We only have to take it in hand. Not that easy.
Our social organization, which takes into account our biological functioning and our cultural aspirations, leads us to define the good and the bad so to orient ourselves. No one escapes these tendencies even those who want to believe that they are elsewhere. Any choice implies a zone of no choice. So it’s good or it’s bad. From the first step we choose to put a foot forward. This polarity of life forces him to actively maintain his difference
Our social model is based on growth. In a society, be it capitalist or communist, one will analyze its degree of success by its growth with its inseparable corollary, inflation. In our heads, these words of growth and inflation are naturally correlated with swelling, obesity, success. It is the result of our activity.
We refuse, of course, the American social model. The latter born on the planet will not give us lessons in philosophy! With their shock formulas they taught us « big is beautifull ». For us it is the absolute rejection. But on the other hand the forces that led to this formula are present in us, in us. The path we follow is identical to theirs, it is only the last conclusive step that we refuse to make. The forces are there and we are subject to their result: obesity in all areas. It is this generalization that we will try.
Biology, culture, psyche: architecture of obesity
Man is a living being among all living beings of the whale bacterium. He is subject to his biological tendencies, contained in all his philosophies: « to grow and multiply ».Compared to other living beings, he has abilities to push the limits of biological constraints to achieve his goal.
In our so-called developed societies, man increases his number, his life span, his height, his weight, his energy and you know the price he attaches to this energy that allows him to exceed his muscular strength. He increases his knowledge in order to remove the factors that limit his growth, his growth. Only one thing that does not increase is his intelligence. When one reads the writings of the ancient thinkers and philosophers who left traces of their reflection, dating from 1000 or 2000 years, one is surprised by their capacity of analysis, their perception of the human and social lines of force, their way of holding Inescapable deductive reasoning, in a word, the spirit of finesse that inhabits them, which is therefore inherent to the condition of man and owes nothing to the current abundance of knowledge. This separation between intelligence that allows choices of organization of the world and therefore of the relations of men with each other and knowledge that allows for growth and therefore the weight of man over the world is more difficult to perceive for most of the world’s citizens. Obesity is watching us and it is getting masked.
Wherever you look at everything that concerns the aspirations of man is: more. More kilometers of roads, highways, more communications in all these forms, more television, more computers, more cars, bigger and bigger, 4 X 4, not out of necessity but for pleasure, more comfort, more energy, to release in a few years all that nature had accumulated over geological times, more, more, more and more food of course.
An independent mind might say: It’s not because there are more foods that you need to eat more. But where does an independent spirit exist? There are recalcitrant, rebellious, non-conformist spirits in the human establishment and some of its choices, but never independent. To write one already needs a tool manufactured by another.The independent would have neither entry nor exit. It’s immobility, cold.
This is the picture of extenuating circumstances for obesity. Everything brings us there.The social patterns around us are growing and why not our weight.
No, this is not an argument to the glory of obesity but only an attempt at understanding.We are pushed and only the will, our own will can hold us back. Against a current. This is where nutritionists can help us counterbalance this trend. The social model leads us to grow and now it tells us: you are responsible for your weight. It is incoherent and explains the number of psychic disorders associated with it: one assumes one’s weight and one is anti-conformist to hide one’s guilt, one does not assume it and one lives in pain, dissatisfied, guilty. With, at the end of the way, the other extreme anorexic.
As our society is what it is, outside help can help solve some problems. As with most of our medicine, it will be a question of treating the symptom. When it comes to treating the disease, we have seen that we are not going down the road; the balanced social models, where the growth objective would have disappeared, do not exist to date. Even the obsolete situation of the reserves of « Indians » proves insufficient.
So, why am I obese and what should I do?
– Individually it will follow the advice of your nutritionist. Provided he is a good nutritionist. You will recognize him because he will have given you the desire to lose weight. Everything is in your will and in your power of conviction. It is a psychologist end, it will facilitate the implementation of eating behaviors to which those around you, your living environment does not push you. No you will not be hungry. Yes you will be able to eat as much as you want of this, of that but beware, this association of which you are accustomed: forbidden. (* See NI). You get used to everything, the fakir sleeps well on his nail board. We will show you how to bear the pain. I said pain: I am a bad nutritionist.
– For societal, consumption, consumerism, growth, more than any more men, can understand that it anchors some patterns in our heads but we do not propose anything acceptable to get out of this model. Our current human system is based on two levers,
– Globalization, it is essential, not to increase our trade but for the global understanding it will allow (after how many wars?) With its outcome: how many men and with what standard of living.
– Growth is our current choice, but despite our posturing, it will have to stop. How to pass from the necessary growth to its stop then to its inversion. Our societal model does not allow it. Nutritionists will have to know how to make him lose weight. I said pain …
And that’s why there are obese.
Roger Bessis
Professor Emeritus at the University of Burgundy.
(* see NI) This text is voluntarily esoteric So that everyone’s imagination can refer to the image of their choice. Here is an example of the various simplifying ways of expressing the idea of prohibition of this or that type of food association: 1 ° It will be necessary to exclude the association lipids-soluble carbohydrates. 2 ° Do not consume together fat and sugar. 3 ° No oil and honey mixture.
4 ° Crispy and sweet to ban. 5 ° You should be ashamed to eat these good pastries. 6 ° It’s good shame but stop.
You pretend not to understand and you’re right. What is clear becomes empty, return quickly to the symbols. Meditation nourishes the flame that inhabits the hermit, cachectic, cacochyme and valetudinaire living in the bottom of his wet cave.