It’s not a conspiracy, take off the foil hat.
Posted on | March 11, 2009 | 4 Comments
It's getting scary
People really seem to love their conspiracy theories. In the last two days I’ve seen two seemingly intelligent commenters on blogs accuse both the food industry and the drug industry of being behind the health crisis in the US. I’m not sure if this is due to people wanting to find a way to dodge responsibility for their own choices (something I’ve written about before) or just too many episodes of “The X-files” and some romanticised notion of smoke filled rooms of suits determining the fate of the world.
But it isn’t so. The drug companies aren’t engaging in some massive conspiracy to keep the population unhealthy – they are responding to the demand. Predictably, most people would rather take a pill than change their habits, side effects be damned. The drug companies cater to that desire. I realize that it’s tempting to ascribe this to some shadowed conspiracy, but the truth is it’s just people being lazy and apathetic. I almost wish this wasn’t true, if there was some sinister CEO pulling the strings it could all be dismantled. The truth is that what is needed is a fundamental social change, which is a much bigger challenge.
I’ve head the same kind of concerns with the food industry. I fully agree that the vast majority of what passes for food in developed countries is anything but. I’m no fan of processed crap. I’ll be one of the first to admit that this is a significant problem. But could it be that most people prefer the processed food-like-substances because they’re cheap and easy to make? Crazy talk I know.
You can make a good case for both industries supporting their own interests – there is some credible evidence of both of them cherry picking the data they use, and certainly of encouraging misconceptions when it is in their own interest. Both should be held accountable for this certainly, but it’s a big leap from that to a “massive profit driven conspiracy to keep people unhealthy”. There are a lot of people out there offering approaches that do work. But they all have something in common… they all require a lot of work. Is it really that surprising that people continue to choose to do what’s easy, especially when “respected agencies” are telling them that’s the way to go? People choosing to believe whatever causes them to have to exert the least effort explains things much more simply than the idea of some shadow government.
Let’s assume for a second that the wild eyed ones are correct though. In my opinion, unless there is GOOD proof, claims of conspiracies make it too easy to dismiss you as a card carrying member of the tin foil hat brigade. You want to help – get out there and change people’s conceptions, encourage them to question what they’re hearing. People aren’t stupid. They may be intellectually lazy and complacent but they’re not dumb. You can accuse the drug industry, food industry, fitness industry and pretty much all big companies with telling people what they want to hear – not what they need to hear.
That’s very true – but as long as people fool themselves into looking for the quick fix, their will be someone to sell it to them.
As always, thoughts are welcome. Thanks to http://www.flickr.com/photos/c_r_i_s/2987200539/ for the slide show photo.
Tags: conspiracy theories > drug companies > tinfoil hats
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4 Responses to “It’s not a conspiracy, take off the foil hat.”
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March 12th, 2009 @ 9:45 am
i dont think a company selling their product and doing everything they can to make sure they are number one is a conspiracy- its called business. supply and demand. I am so sick of people blaming faceless corporations for their problems. its the tail wagging the dog. a friend of mine is a pharm. sales rep and i dont think that gives anyone that has high blood pressure the right to run up to her on the street and blame her for their daily pills.
if you really think the food and drug industries are responsible for our health crisis, perhaps you can make a few trips to the gym and the produce aisle and get off those meds that are being “forced” down your throat.
March 13th, 2009 @ 11:36 am
Chris,
Loved your post…and your comments on my blog.
I won’t speak for my commenters, but seeing as it was my post about the obesity drug market that got the ball rolling, I thought that I should chip in my 2 cents.
Personally, while I don’t ascribe to any sort of conspiracy theory, I do think that the drug companies are full of crap when it comes to the efficacy of their obesity/weight loss drugs.
I am a real geek for this stuff and over the years i have developed friendships with a bunch of people involved in the most bleeding edge research into obesity.
And they are nowhere near understanding all of the science behind obesity. It seems like the more they learn, the more they realize that obesity is waaaaayyyy to complex for a “magic pill” solution.
But, the drug companies (and the diet book authors, supplement manufacturers and diet services) have no problem telling us that their drug is that magic bullet we’re all waiting for.
For that reason, I consider their marketing efforts to be dishonest at best.
They know that their products aren’t going to work nearly as well as eating right, supplementing right and exercising right.
And they also know that most people are lazy and either hopeful or stupid. They want the easy solution to obesity that only a pharmaceutical can provide.
I look forward to your comments at my blog…and i think my readers will definitely find this post (and others) very interesting, so I am adding you to my blogroll
March 13th, 2009 @ 12:05 pm
Thanks for the add! There are a number of blogs I’ve been reading lately that I plan on adding to my blogroll when I update it next, yours is certainly among them. I’d add your blog for your banner graphic alone.
I agree completely with you that their marketing tactics are questionable, if not at times outright criminal. (Naturally the drug companies are trying to wash their hands of any role in the story I linked).
So I think we’re in agreement. I’m not trying to give the companies a pass for exploiting people’s gullibility. I’m just saying that that is all they’re doing – they’re pandering to people looking for a quick fix. This isn’t OK, but there’s a big difference between than and a conspiracy to keep people unhealthy.
March 13th, 2009 @ 2:06 pm
While my wife is convinced that the governement is slowly trying to kill off the population with medication and poor nutrition advice, I prefer to think that we are just victims of our own capitalism. I think that the food industry and the drug industry ARE larely behind the health crisis in America. BUT I believe that they are motivated simply by making money. Big business. I don’t think the motives are anymore sinister than that. Taking advantage of a system for profit… sure then maybe. Taking advantage of peoples laziness, gullibility (lol is that even a word) then maybe. Lets be honest… there is money to be made in bad health and medicine. Until people wake up and take responsibility for themselves then it wont change. You can’t really effectively try to protect people from themselves. Then you are addressing a symptom and not the problem.
The SoG