Response to "Sweet: The Money Spent Selling Sugar to Americans is Staggering" - Homework 4

Spending millions of dollars on advertising sugar is obviously atrocious. That money could, and should, be going towards welfare, education, or even nutritional programs. But instead, it's being used to perpetrate a monstrous business aimed at making people unhealthy, quickly and cheaply. Truth be told, these businesses pray on the weak. Or, not necessarily the weak, but the income inequality that plagues our country. Many ignorant people believe that it is a person's choice whether or not to eat and be healthy. Sometimes, that is the case, but it often is not. "Just buy ingredients and cook at home", "Only eat organic", "Don't eat fast food", etc., are all really great phrases when you have the time and money to do all of those things. But for people coming from a low economic status, they rarely have those resources to spare. Often, certain things (such as rent, transportation, etc) must be prioritized over having a healthy home-cooked meal. So when a person is forced to work two or even three jobs (due to low minimum wage and high education costs), and only has a finite amount of time/money to eat, they are going to choose the quickest and cheapest option. Which is where "fast food" places like McDonalds, Wendy's, and Burger King make most of their money. And then, when these people get sick, no one wants to spend tax money to give them the free healthcare that they otherwise cannot afford. This is what is wrong with our country. Literally forcing people to eat and work themselves to death, just to make a profit. It can be argued that all of this is done simply to weed out the lower economic classes, forcing the inequality gap to grow larger, and keep the richest elite class on top and in power. By keeping the poor, poor, the rich are quickly getting richer. All of that aside, however, the advertising keeps us spending money on all of it. From a young age, American children are blatantly told that sugary junk food tastes better than vegetables, as if it's just a fact of life. You basically grow up as the outcast if you divulge that you actually secretly love the taste of organic brussels sprouts. Then, the addicting sugary taste keeps us spending money on it for our entire lives, even though we learn that it is "bad" for you. But it is probably not just the taste. As the article points out, a lot of it probably has to do with the obnoxious advertising. And it isn't really your fault for buying into it. Like I said before, millions and millions of dollars are spent to make you feel like you should "trust" these marketers. The reality of our country is that we are willing to do whatever it takes to make the most money in the quickest way possible. And this means feeding our citizens sugar even if it kills them.