Talking Economics with an Overeating Glutton

Two years ago, I wrote an entry about why discussing economics with an overspender is frustrating. Now, I was looking at certain fat people who say really dumb things about economics. Just recently, I was looking at a certain fat idiot (fortunately, he only has 1K+ followers) who posted on Facebook that not only will the parliamentary system cause the Philippines to become a dictatorship, but he also says that changing economic provisions will cause the Philippines to collapse and the country to fall into the hands of foreigners. I won't name the person out to avoid getting personal. However, the person is apparently very fat and he blames capitalism day in and day out. The person even says that businessmen do nothing and it's the employers that do everything. Has that fat slob ever heard that businesses are run by bosses and that if the bosses do screw up, they're the ones who are the most answerable? The employees are the cogs and the boss runs the cogs.

I was looking at why people can become unusually fat. Apparently, all the guy does is overeat and live a sedentary lifestyle. Sure, fat shaming is wrong and maybe the fat person next to me is making a conscious effort to lose weight. I've met some fat people who are working to lose weight, even if they're still fat. However, said fat person is still able to fit in a car, not have to take an extra seat on the plane, and is starting to have less trouble finding new clothes. I'm glad that some fat people are actually working hard to save their health. One fat person I knew lost some pounds. She may still be considered chubby but she's definitely living life well with her husband and children. She was already striving for weight loss even before she became a family woman.

When I look at the videos of people overeating and being fat influencers, economics is overlooked aside from health. I'll give a few examples of how economics is ignored by being overweight:

One huge hamburger may cost around PHP 270.00 up to PHP 480.00 from Army Navy. It's already costly for me to buy the PHP 480.00. How much more if a person decides to keep gobbling up several burgers. For example, to buy at least 10 of these burgers, it would cost around PHP 2,700.00 to PHP 4,800.00 to overfeed one's self. Make it a hundred and it will be even more expensive.
Some of them may actually be living off handouts when they shouldn't. Handouts are only reserved for people who are incapable of work. For example, I've read people who have been afflicted by some disease such as neurofibromatosis get handouts due to how discrimination may hit them. Some old people live on handouts because they get too old to work. However, for people who demand handouts even when they're healthy is another thing. How can an overeating glutton who relies on a welfare state know about economics?
If a person happens to be in the same position as Mao Zedong or Kim Jong Un, they would definitely not know anything about economics. I heard that Mao wasn't just a dirty pig with his hygiene but also his diet. Mao's obsession with the unhealthy Sichuan-style pork belly was just one thing. Can you expect Mao to know about economics if the guy ate a lot and Madame Mao was probably even worse than Imelda Romualdez-Marcos? Maybe, Mao overate while the Great Leap Forward was carried out?
In overeating, they don't even think of future expenses that they will have as a result of several health issues. Some people may be hooked to oxygen 24/7 as a result of overeating.

When people eat too much and move too little I read this one from the MD Anderson Cancer Center which explains a lot about unusually fat people:

So, what happens to your body when you overeat?
Overeating causes the stomach to expand beyond its normal size to adjust to the large amount of food. The expanded stomach pushes against other organs, making you uncomfortable. This discomfort can take the form of feeling tired, sluggish or drowsy. Your clothes also may feel tight, too.
Eating too much food requires your organs to work harder. They secrete extra hormones and enzymes to break the food down.
To break down food, the stomach produces hydrochloric acid. If you overeat, this acid may back up into the esophagus resulting in heartburn. Consuming too much food that is high in fat, like pizza and cheeseburgers, may make you more susceptible to heartburn.
Your stomach may also produce gas, leaving you with an uncomfortable full feeling.
Your metabolism may speed up as it tries to burn off those extra calories. You may experience a temporary feeling of being hot, sweaty or even dizzy.

What are the long-term effects of overeating?

When you eat, your body uses some of the calories you consume for energy. The rest are stored as fat. Consuming more calories than you burn may cause you to become overweight or obese. This increases your risk for cancer and other chronic health problems.

Overeating -- especially unhealthy foods -- can take its toll on your digestive system. Digestive enzymes are only available in limited quantity, so the larger the amount of food you eat, the longer it takes to digest. If you overeat frequently, over time, this slowed digestive process means the food you eat will remain in the stomach for a longer period of time and be more likely to turn into fat.

Overeating can even impact your sleep. Your circadian clock, which controls your sleep cycles, causes your sleep and hunger hormone levels to rise and fall throughout the day. Overeating can upset this rhythm, making it hard for you to sleep through the night.

And if that's not all, I'm not surprised at the correlation between people who are overweight and the way it affects their minds. I guess that explains why people who aren't that fat can think better than those who are really that fat. Being obese also harms brain health. Researchers may still be trying to find out how and why it happens. However, a bit of simple science proves that if less blood is carried from the brain, it can affect brain health. The heart pumps blood throughout the whole body. If the heart can't do its job properly because of it being clogged by fat--can you expect it to bring the required amount of blood to the brain?

Then again don't overeating gluttons care more about feelings than facts? For them, their precious feelings are so hurt. Well bad news, the facts are that several fat influencers are dying way too soon as a result of their actions. Some people die and it's not their fault. For example, a health-conscious person may be gone too soon but that was something beyond their control. Maybe, it's the environment they live in that caused them to go away so soon than their health habits. They never cared about the economics and only cared about their feelings.

Get Stuck with EDSA, End Up Like Nokia

Yes, we should never forget what history teaches us. A classmate of mine, back in high school, wrote a simple and blunt essay called "History: A Teacher". I doubt he still has a soft copy, given it was already more than 20 years ago. I'd like to quote Duterte critic Andrew James Masigan wrote this in Philippine Star --something that should remain relevant: I would never undervalue the 1987 Constitution. It dismantled the legal framework of a repressive regime and established the democratic institutions we enjoy today. For this, I am grateful. The 1987 Constitution was crafted with the best of intentions. It sought to put the Filipino first in all aspects of governance and to level the playing field amongst sectors and peoples. But it is far from perfect. It failed to consider the importance of foreign capital and technologies and the stiff competition we would have to face to obtain them. In short, its economic provisions were short-sighted . So despite the Constitut...

#SahodItaasPresyoIbaba Economics' Bad Accounting

I would like to apologize in advance to my readers. The picture I'm presenting is in Tagalog, and not all my readers speak Tagalog. I would translate the picture's text into English for convenience. It says: "Ano ang bumubuo sa mga presyo?" means "What comprises the price?" "Gastos ng materyales" means materials expense "Gastos sa kasangkapan" means depreciation expense ""Gastos sa pasahod" means salary expense "Kapitalista" means capitalist Renta is well, rent "Kayang pababain ang presyo" means "Prices can be lowered". It says that capitalists (industrialists, landlords, bankers) and elitist governments are part in the gross profit. Get rid of excise taxes (either permanently or temporarily) for the prices of goods and services. In the times of crisis, in the burden of sacrifices, we need to be watchful for capacity. Whatever savings for times of difficulty by the workers and countrymen, the...

Past Chinese School Education in the Philippines was Based on "Sǐ Jì Yìng Bèi"

Chinoys of my age (and older) may remember these textbooks. I called them as the "symbol of trauma". It was memorizing something without understanding it . One would just memorize (without understanding it) because it was typical. Not being able to memorize what was assigned? Get a bad grade? One can expect physical punishment like hitting the hand with a ruler or chili in the mouth. Chinese language teachers are stereotypically strict . The language textbooks (above) are what were used during the 1990s to the early 2000s. As I wrote it, the Sinjiang textbooks aren't effective in teaching Mandarin , in a world where Mandarin has over a billion speakers! There's a Chinese proverb that says, "死記硬背 sǐ jì yìng bèi" or "Memorize to the point of death". That's exactly what those textbooks are. Memorize to the point of death! Okay, it may sound exaggerated. However, that's how Chinese language teachers in the Philippines were made to teach the ...

Migrante International's Really Bad Economic Literacy

March 17 (which is tomorrow) seems to be an unofficial holiday for some people, right? I'm sickened that the late Flor Contemplacion has been treated like she's some national heroine (and thankfully, tomorrow isn't a holiday) even after Singapore had proven her guilt. A movie was made by Joel Lamangan called The Flor Contemplacion Story . The call for Migrante (Migrant) International has been to remember Flor even after several years. What's not too surprising was to learn that Flor's sons were all arrested for drug-related charges. Even her eldest son died while in prison. You have Migrante International wanting to end the labor export policy. However, a post by Migrante really shows how this group fails basic economics. I will not post the whole press statement but one part that made my eyes roll. >> Further opening the country’s economy to foreign ownership and control will worsen the exploitation of our people and the environment without creating a susta...

"Filipino First Policy" Has NO PLACE in the Rising Asian 21st Century

I guess nobody saw the Asian 21st Century coming, right? China was once a poor nation but look at it now. Vietnam was once a poor nation but look at it now. Singapore was once a poor nation but look at it now. The late great Lee Kuan Yew wrote his book From Third World to First . I'm afraid some people have been using it to go against the presidency of Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. while ignoring what else Lee Kuan Yew had to say. Lee Kuan Yew described the Filipino press to be rambunctious on pages 304-305 which I agree. I'm afraid that the Filipino press may have had a hand in getting rid of any economic or political reforms that could help the Philippines. Yet, one policy has been holding back the Philippines for decades and yes, it's the Filipino First Policy . Reviewing the Filipino First Policy and why it has no place in the rising Asian 21st century I remembered how the values education subject taught Carlos P. Garcia's stupid Filipino First Policy as a Filipino value...

Has Passing Down Hatred for Singapore (Because of Flor Contemplacion) Economically Helped the Philippines?

PEH.ph It was on March 17, 1995, when Flor Contemplacion was executed in Singapore. I've noticed that I've been addressing her as the late many times, even if the late is a statement that may be ony appropriate if the person has been recently deceased within 10 years. It's about to become 30 years since Flor was hanged in Singapore. However, generational hatred would've been passed down from 1995 up to 2025. Some people are still tagging #JusticeFor Flor. These traits may be passed down from the Batang 1990s to their children in this generation. It may also be passed down from parent to child, even if the child was born in the 2000s to 2010s. Somebody born in 2000s and beyond might even say, "Papa and mama told me about Flor Contemplacion! That's why I hate Singapore!" Talk about a child born in 2004 who's probably angry with Singapore, because his parents kept telling him about how Flor was supposedly "unjustly treated" over there. Some tim...

My First Taste of Sichuan at Yang Hero IT Park

I was doing some random historical study. One of the many things I recalled from Asian history class was the Chinese Communist Party in Sichuan. It's an interesting piece of historical detail that Mao Zedong (and other Chinese communists) were avid lovers of spicy food . Yang Hero had its first branch in Gaisano Tabunok. It opened a branch in IT Park last May 25, 2023 . The menus had Chinese translations. The establishment has made me realize the importance of learning Mandarin . True, I could order their food without speaking Mandarin. However, I still feel that the increasing number of Chinese businesses left and right would mean, "You may need to learn some Mandarin now to connect with more people in the world." For a bit of background, here's what I gathered from Sun Star Cebu: Evanmarie Mendoza, social media specialist at Yang Hero, said: “The Chinese barbecue is also a must-try for foodies as it differs from the regular ones that we typically have here in the P...

Tealive's Aren Caramel (Kaong Sugar Caramel) Series

I usually tend to associate sugar with cane sugar. In this case, Tealive (read my review here ) uses a sugar known as gula aren. I did some research and found out that Gula Aren is made from the sap of the sugar palm tree. The fruit is also known as kaong in the Filipino language. Granted, the Filipino language also derives from the Malaysian and Indonesian languages--it may be derived from the Indonesian word kolang kaling . The Philippines may also be producing its own gula aren or palm sugar. Sugar palm or kaong is pretty much grown as a staple in Filipino cooking too. Here's a video from an Indonesian woman. Watching this, it's safe to assume that kaong farmers in the Philippines follow more or less the same routine. Maybe, some people may call it latik though latik is made from coconut milk and not coconut sap. Though, some Filipinos may still call palm sugar as latik. The video above also shows an Indonesian binignit with some kaong. I was shocked to learn kaong is also u...

Getting Stingy at the Cost of Fire Safety?

March is fire prevention month, right? If there are people who are too extravagant then I'd like to talk again about stingy people (read the article here ). I've tried growing up with the stingy vs. extravagant extremes. Some people become stingy even with the necessities. It's one thing to deny a child a children's party since it's a want . It's another thing to deny a child stuff they need all in the name of saving money . Even worse, some people may be more than stingy enough to ignore fire safety. A stingy person just wants to save. It's almost like the story of the Miser and His Gold or The Rich Miser . I really find these stories entertaining at the same time, irritating. The first story has the miser who hid his gold under the ground. Some people today are too distrustful of banks and investments. The second story has a rich man who even dresses in rags, denies his son's shoes, had his wife cook some cake only for him, and was so greedy he had it ...

Started to Invest in the ATRAM Global Equity Opportunity Feeder Fund

It's time to begin a new road into investing. I went from a moderate risk taker to a moderately aggressive risk taker. Of course, I need to be careful with how much money I invest or I don't invest the money that I need. I believe that one could start by investing 15% to 20% of one's income. Basically, it's money that's not needed now. Fortune Recommends gives this ideal sweet spot: Many of the experts we spoke with suggested, as a general rule, to invest a set percentage of your after-tax income. Although that percentage can vary depending on your income, savings, and debts. “ Ideally, you’ll invest somewhere around 15%–25% of your post-tax income, ” says Mark Henry, founder and CEO at Alloy Wealth Management. “If you need to start smaller and work your way up to that goal, that’s fine. The important part is that you actually start.” Some budgeting strategies account for this, such as the 50/30/20 budgeting strategy, which breaks your monthly budget into three ca...

Shaun T. Dy's Business & Economics Perspective Blog

Search This Blog