The State of Living

Mark the date: 27th of September 2018.

The third meeting of a World Health Organization High level commission of the United Nations under the leadership of Italy and Paraguay are going to decide whether ingredients food and beverage levies and taxes should be used to ensure our health.

Indeed.

They are most probably not supplied with all the facts and are unaware that the poor will suffer in the years to come once these taxes and levies are given their stamp of approval.

The levies and taxes that could eventually influence every type of food and drink (above and beyond the taxes already levied on food, ingredients, fuel, diesel, land, farms, produce, drink, beverages, water, electricity, income, savings, pensions, roads, infrastructure, carbon emissions, imports, exports, sales and much more), can apparently apply to all except efforts to actually improve health and sensibly address non-communicable diseases and obesity.

Is this farfetched? No.

It is happening – without the crucial questions being addressed at all…

The questions that should be uppermost in everyone’s mind should be

‘ What is happening to us – to our bodies’ ?

Why are we getting more obese?

Why do we develop diseases that are not passed on between us (non-communicable)?

This is surely where we have to start looking; bringing interdisciplinary facts and research together to understand what is going on with ‘us’ and our children.

Only then can we address the problems successfully. Unfortunately sin taxes and –levies (increasing annually ad infinitum) will not achieve this aim.

So – let’s go on a journey that the WHO and governments apparently forgot to explore in their eagerness to turn health levies into their next investment opportunity at the expense of the ignorant….us.

Our state of living changed over the last 30 to 40 years.

To mention a few changes:

? The global population increased substantially over the last 40 years – it is understandable that disease and risk would also increase;

? Global migration has taken place, taking humans from their usual living conditions into (in many instances) poorer conditions either as temporary refugees in other countries, or to metropolitan areas in search of work;

? With the expansion in population, one part of the global population became poorer while others prospered. It is known (for example) that approximately 70% of Ethiopians do not have access to electricity. The project manager for a dam under construction in Africa that would have addressed this issue, passed away this year, leaving a void in leadership and knowledge to accomplish this major effort.

Without the basics needed to grow a nation, nations fall behind and in many instances their politicians are to blame for the untenable situation – not the nations that prospered. Prosperity comes with rewards such as central heating, two or more personal vehicles with emissions and oil waste, personal waste, factories, landfills and more. This creates environmental problems with the quality of air breathed, smog and more that all contribute to a decrease in general health.

Sources of, or the culprits identified "as the “silent killers of the 21st century", are [for example], toxic heavy metals, pesticides, radioactive chemicals and pathogens that accumulate in [human] bodies with devastating results” (https://www.resultsrna.com/toxicity-as-a-clinical-diagnosis-the-detoxification-answer/ ). One of the results are changes in the human genes (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1762815/ ) , activation and deactivation of genes, -processes, -enzymes, -hormones and more in our bodies, that result in non-communicable diseases;

? Over-exploitation of agricultural land, a decrease in soil-quality, drought conditions that cannot be predicted, flooding of farms in other regions (damaging the soil and changing soil composition), a lack of advanced knowledge and skills needed to protect the land, while optimally producing food for an increasing population (just to name a few issues). All of these contribute not only to a concern for food sustainability and –security; it also result in the decrease or change of the nutritional value of all food products whether from plant- or animal origins.

It has been found that even trees are undergoing changes in growth patterns, indicating that they are under severe strain as organisms. Tree health and plant health should be a concern. Up to now, financial viability and the affordability of food, necessitated the use of chemicals and drugs in agriculture, the controlled and safe use of insecticides and pesticides, correction of the soil quality and -microbiome that could not (and cannot) be methodologically ‘organic’, due to the logical drawbacks of such production methods in certain sectors. In the face of many climatic challenges, agriculture stayed abreast of nutritional requirements in some parts of the world – and not in others. Overproduction in some parts of the world was countered by no production and starvation in others.

What about the farmers?

If they are bankrupted (as they are) by these taxes and levies, it is not a concern of the WHO – it is not their responsibility.

However, being faced by poverty, hunger, unemployment, malnutrition and more is extremely relevant to farmers everywhere – and their well-being is determined by everyone making decisions based on one-sided arguments on the 27th September in New York.

? We have become more sensitive to food and conditions in the environment. Some people become so allergic to just about everything that they eat, drink, breathe or how they live, that they require constant medication or even isolation to preserve life or make life bearable and livable. It is possible to determine accurately through tests whether an individual is actually allergic or sensitive (intolerant) to specific components or foods in their lives, whether it is food-related, environmentally driven, initiated by medication and more.

? The tempo of life has increase dramatically over the last 30 to 40 years. At that time, advanced computers were a novelty, cell phones were in its infancy, and children did their own homework (they could actually read, write and pass comprehension tests), and played …. de-stressing every day; getting enough sleep at night; tired, yet satisfied and at peace,with a brain that could ‘clear’ itself of the cluttered impulses of the day that were stacked in the synapses of nerve cells – ready for new, fresh ‘input’ the next day.

People also liked to read, stimulating the brain – reading was the only source of information in many parts of the world, except for the radio. Television and the Internet came later (when our health problems really took a leap forward). Libraries abounded in more affluent areas and at schools and universities. If the source of information was in doubt or facts were not understood, the librarian was at hand to assist. Communication was by mail – and took days (sometimes weeks); many people still preferred to write letters by hand and penmanship was valued; filing was hard-copy driven and professional letters or documents were typed. Written responses took time to arrive and urgent discussions were conducted by telephone. We talked to each other.

Today an immediate response is required no matter where the individual is or what he or she is doing – anything that happened an hour ago may be ignored…it is outdated and replaced. We live in a time where a lack of immediacy is equated to incompetence. Twitter, ‘selfies’, Facebook and more enhance this sense of immediacy….many times without real content, accuracy or proof. Many people have become expert at senseless communication for the sake of communicating. If there is nothing to say, something must be found quickly to stave off the deafening electronic silence at all cost – even rumors, guesses or lies will do. Starting a rumor is easy. Turning it into a cause is even easier still.

? Over the last 30 to 40 years the speed of information-sharing, communication and research therefore increased exponentially. The world became evermore globally inclusive – yet also exclusive, depending on who you were and were you lived. Loneliness is common today. People do not know how to communicate sensibly with one another anymore. We do not talk, we tweet.

A lack of information actually became an issue – as did an oversupply of it. Information became common property, school curricula had to adapt to address the speed of change, and basic curricula had to be adapted at tertiary level. Basic education at all levels suffered. Standard truths – the compass of knowledge, insight and progress seemed to disappear in the frenzy. Standards that are essential to stay on course, guiding informed choices (for example regarding statistics), seemed obsolete to people that had to ensure their tenure in organizations and their place in society. 

What about the individual out there – ‘the man in the street’ that is at the mercy of any ‘knowledge peddler’ that (like the snake-oil salesmen of old) peddle information on demand – as required -- tailor-made to suit whatever purpose in whatever manner from whichever source. Individuals in communities, irrespective of age and especially children should have been prepared for a contradictory, smaller, electronic world where they would be expected to deny who they are, where they come from, their values, cultures and habits. Instead they have been ill prepared when it comes to discriminating between facts, truth, speculation, guesses, sensation and nonsense. This skill to be discerning when it comes to what is seen, observed, read and experienced is still a skill apparently not attained?

? No one seems to think for a moment that the wonderful search engines they use to ‘learn and know what the experts know’ are driven and determined by computer algorithms … they are seeing what Artificial Intelligence judges (based on their previous internet activity), to be suitable for their consideration. It is unlikely that anyone would look at more than a few pages of research results (when there were more than 8 million pieces of information to be accessed on a single subject). Artificial Intelligence is already deciding what is ‘valid’ and what is not. For someone seriously in search of the truth, it therefore requires time and skill to obtain information presenting more than one point of view. It this why activists and government officials – even some scientists, seem to struggle with tunnel vision?

? Over the last 30 or 40 years, we became knowledgeable -- one-dimensionally, and became masters of the truth ‘according to us’. The global population became experts on any and every subject (in isolation) overnight. In the frenzy of knowledge on demand, people started to accept what they read – whatever the source, and ignorant of the inherent value of the information on which a publication was based. Reading late at night, early in the morning, during meals, the amount of time spent sitting down, passively living a shaded, pseudo-active life online, became the norm. People with access through any piece of electronic hardware and software (progressively more portable and accessible) only internalized what they could measure against their own perceived circumstances and beliefs that were constantly under pressure and questioned from outside. What they understood or could understand became subverted under the guidance of activists, rife with myths and legends that subverted science to suit their own aims. The half-truth, sensationalism and confusion became a commodity that could ensure grants and an income, while hiding corruption and incompetence.

The level of real debate therefore seemed to decrease and became strangely exclusive, insight was lost and ‘fact’ was something in a headline that took two seconds to read. Everyone could be famous – the more absurd the statements, the more clicks were obtained on social media. Social, emotive half-truths became the measure of scientific excellence and truth, leading the global population into a health disaster.

Knowledge became a line in a Twitter feed.

Activism became the rallying cry.

The biggest contributors to confusion became the loudest voices containing just enough truth to seem plausible. Strange, fad diets, exclusion of foods and ingredients from the diet, changed nutritional- and eating patterns, and more has brought us to a point where many people in especially developed countries consume food most probably without knowing what exactly they are eating – and more importantly the reason for their choices.

And health? It deteriorates. The body is in crisis.

No wonder we are seeing an increase in non-communicable disease. When what is required from industry is based on activist views and a lack of insight, ‘healthy food’ actually becomes progressively unattainable, 'Diet food' becomes the norm,Food quality and –safety decline, Adulteration of food becomes rife, Food fraud is a free for all and one-dimensional thinking is the norm.

The human organism is then indeed at risk.

? With regard to the current level of discussion about food and nutrition, we seem to be returning to a time before 1830. When people indicate that they would trust 3-dimensional printed food more than processed food prepared in a monitored factory under the utmost hygienic conditions, humanity is really in trouble.

The local and international discussions on health issues seem to lack basic knowledge and insight; wisdom to make logical, execution-able decisions that will actually address the problem. Not just talking and levying taxes – actually understanding a problem and addressing it. Taking the time for sensible, knowledgeable discussion, for high level, correctly conducted research worthy of the name – not one-dimensional quick fixes. It is not about winning or losing – it is about doing what can be proven; research repeated and delivering the same results, before a decision is reached. Old fashioned? Not really – just thorough, responsible and defendable.

Do all of this seem familiar?

It should – it is the world we created in the last 30+ years – a sad reminder that the advances of man can indeed be subverted to serve the unprincipled, the manipulative, the half-truth and the lie.

Where do we go from here?

We have to go to where we last saw the truth and work from there. We start with the simple truths in plain language. We have to understand why humans are apparently suffering more from non-communicable diseases than before. What has happened and is happening to the human organism?

Now read the Article entitled ‘The Human Organism (‘Man’) ….

Source list available on request.

END.