Critical reading exercisePlease email responses to the questions
posed in class to [email protected] by Wed 5 March at 1200.Piece to
read:Rethinking Our Rights to Dangerous BehaviorsFEB. 25, 2014In
the last e! "ears, its #e$o%e in$reasingl" $lear that oo&
$o%'anies engineerh"'er'ro$esse& oo&s in !a"s
're$isel"geare& to %osta''eal to our tastes.
(histe$hnologi$all" a&van$e& engineering is &one, o
$ourse, !ith the goal o%a)i%i*ing'roits, regar&lesso theee$tso
theresultingoo&son$onsu%erhealth, natural resour$es, the
environ%ent or an"thing else.Butthe issues go !a" #e"on&
oo&, asthe+it",niversit" o -e! .ork'roessor-i$holas
Freu&en#erg &is$usses in his ne! #ook, /Lethal but Legal:
Corporations,Consumption,
andProtectingPublicHealth.0Freu&en#ergs$aseisthat
theoo&in&ustr" is #ut one e)a%'le o the threat to 'u#li$
health 'ose& #" !hat he $alls/the $or'orate $onsu%'tion
$o%'le),0 an allian$e o $or'orations, #anks,%arketers an&
others that essentiall" 'ro%ote an& #eneit ro% unhealth"
liest"les.It soun&s $ree'"1 it is $ree'". But its also 'lain to
see. .es, its unlikel" theres a$a#al that sits &o!nan&
asks, /2o!$an!e kill %ore ki&s to%orro!30
ButFreu&en#erg&etails ho!si)in&ustries
4oo&aneverage, to#a$$o, al$ohol,irear%s, 'har%a$euti$al an&
auto%otive 4 use 'rett" %u$h the sa%e 'la"#ook to&een& the
sales o health5threatening'ro&u$ts.(his 'la"#ook, largel"
&evelo'e" the to#a$$o in&ustr", &isregar&s hu%an
health an& 'oses greater threats to oure)isten$e than an"
$o%%uni$a#le &isease "ou $an na%e.6ll o thesein&ustries
!orkhar&to&een&our /right0 4tos%oke,
ee&our$hil&ren7unk, $arr"han&gunsan&soon4as%atterso
$hoi$e, ree&o%an&res'onsi#ilit". (heir uniie& line is
that an"thing that restri$ts those /rights0 is un56%eri$an..et ea$h
in&ustr", as it 8%ostl"9 legall" $an, &esigns 'ro&u$ts
that are &ii$ult toresist an& so%eti%es a&&i$tive.
(his %a" #e o#vious, i onl" in retros'e$t: The
foodindustryhascreatedcombinations that%osta''ealtoour#rains
instin$tualan&learne&res'onses,
although!e!ereeatingthoseoo&slong#eore!ereali*e&that. It
%a" #e hi&&en 8an& #or&erline illegal9, as !hen
to#a$$o $o%'anies uppedthe nicotine quotient of tobacco. ;o%eti%es,
as Freu&en#erg 'oints out, the a''eals%a" #e su#tle: uite
si%ilar. For e)a%'le, the argu%ent or 'rote$ting 'eo'leagainst
%arketers o 7unk oo& relies in 'art on the a$t that
antis%okingregulations an& seat#elt la!s !ere initiall"
atta$ke& as ro##ing us o $hoi$e1 no! !ekno! the"re
liesavers.(husthe%ostnovel
an&interesting'artsoFreu&en#ergs#ookarethosethatre'hrase
the &is$ussion o rights an& $hoi$e, #e$ause !e nee&
%ore than seat#eltan&antis%okingla!s, %orethanae!'oli$ies
nu&ging'eo'leto!aretterhealth. ,ntil no! 8an&, sa&l",
'erha's !ell into the uture9, $or'orations have #een#oth%ore ni%#le
an&%ore lush!ith$ashthanthe 'u#li$ healthar%s ogovern%ent.
/?hat !e nee&,0 Freu&en#erg sai& to %e, /is to return
to the 'u#li$se$tor the right to set health 'oli$" an& to li%it
$or'orations ree&o% to 'roit atthe e)'ense o 'u#li$
health.0Re&eining the argu%ent %a" hel' us in& strategies
that $an a$tuall" #ring a#out$hange. (he turning 'oint in the
to#a$$o !ars !as !hen the >uestion $hange& ro%the
in&ustr"s 4 /Do 'eo'le have the right to s%oke30 4 to that o
'u#li$ health:/Do'eo'lehavetheright to#reathe$leanair30 -otethat
#oth>uestions arelegiti%ate, #ut i "oua&&resstheirst
8to!hi$htheans!eriso $ourse/"es09!ithout asking the se$on& 8to
!hi$h the ans!er is o $ourse also /"es09 "ou %iss ano''ortunit" to
$onvert the ans!er ro% one that lea&s to greater in&ustr"
'roits toone that has literall" $ut s%oking rates in hal.;i%ilarl",
!enee&to#easkingnot/Do7unkoo&$o%'anieshavetheright to%arket
to $hil&ren30 #ut /Do $hil&ren have the right to a health"
&iet30 8In @e)i$o,the se$on& >uestion has #een
ans!ere& 'ositivel". ;ha%eull", !e have "et to takethat ste'.9
(he >uestion is not onl", /Do !e have a right to #ear ar%s30 #ut
also /Do!e have the right to #e sae in our streets an&
s$hools30 In short, sa"s Freu&en#erg:/(he right to #e health"
tru%'s the right o $or'orations to 'ro%ote $hoi$es
thatlea&to're%ature&eathan&'reventa#leillnesses.
Arote$ting'u#li$healthisaun&a%ental govern%ent res'onsi#ilit"1
a&e$ent so$iet"shoul¬ allo!oo&$o%'anies to $onvin$e
$hil&ren to #u" oo& thats #a& or the% or to en$ourage
alieti%e o unhealth" eating.0O&&l", these are ra&i$al
notions. But arent the" less /un56%eri$an0 than allo!ing
a$o%'an"to%a)i%i*eitsreturnoninvest%ent#"lookingtosell
to$hil&renorhealth" a&ults in !a"s that !ill $ause
're%ature %ortalit"3 6s Freu&en#erg
sa"s,/;houl&nts$ien$ean&te$hnolog"#euse&toi%'rovehu%an!ell5#eing,
nottoa&van$e #usiness goals that har%health30 (!o other
>uestions that $an #eans!ere& /"es.0QuestionDiscuss at least
two areas of potential bias by the author of thisOp-Ed piece in the
NY Times.
