How Can Canada Be Strong If So Many Of Our People Are Unhealthy?

This past year has revealed the true cost of an unhealthy society, and no big issues can be truly solved without addressing that.

Politicians often love to focus on the so-called ‘big picture,’ the big numbers of GDP, debt, spending, and more. And that’s often the right thing to do, as those numbers have important meaning and can be a guide/warning.

However, the big picture doesn’t really exist.

It is an abstraction, made up of the decisions and outcomes of millions of Canadians.

The fact is, our society is becoming less and less healthy, both mentally and physically, at the individual level, and the costs of this are spiralling out of control.

For example, obesity is the second highest risk factor for death and serious illness from the Wuhan Virus, yet it has been rarely mentioned by those in power.

Rather than seek to promote health, our society was locked down by politicians.

Of course, the virus still ravaged seniors care homes – and continues to do so – despite all the lockdowns.

And, lockdowns contributed to many people having worsening mental health problems, and many people gaining weight.

After all, the politicians and ‘experts’ advised people to stay inside, avoid gatherings – even outdoors – and contributed to a ‘stay home and order food’ economy that has made many people less healthy.

Meanwhile, gyms and sporting events were shut down.

This has cost our country a tremendous amount of money – leading us to in effect rob future generations to pay for things we can’t really afford today.

This is all a consequence of our society being so unhealthy.

Consider how it’s now ‘fat-shaming’ to even point out that someone is morbidly obese, as if ‘healthy at any size’ was anything more than virtue-signalling that actually discourages people from being honest with themselves and others.

Many politicians and ‘experts’ who seek to tell us what to do are in awful shape themselves, reducing their credibility.

And various lobbies, from the pharmaceutical industry to the food industry, have effectively co-opted many politicians into advocating for things that make people less and less healthy – so long as there is profit to be made in it.

We must return to a recognition that there is a direct link between a society that has declining physical fitness, declining mental health, and a declining balance sheet.

A nation cannot be strong and ambitious and secure if so many people are kept in poor health, are so mentally-troubled, and are so desperate to just barely get by.

Our society needs to remember the importance of health, beauty, resiliency, ambition, and self-improvement, rather than descending further into a debt-ridden future where we cover up reality with empty words and slogans.

The big issues we face can only be solved by recognizing that our country will rise or fall based on the health of our people, and no amount of money printing or propaganda can alter that reality.

Spencer Fernando