Mike Bloomberg is a “champion of choice” or something
Critics of both policies claim that they are “nanny state” measures that diminish freedom of choice. The reality is quite the opposite: By gently and cleverly combatting some of the more aggressive effects of addiction and corporate marketing run amok, they actually make it easier, not harder, for people to exercise the choices they really desire.
The drink ban, had it not been overturned, would not have prevented people determined to do so from drinking as much soda as they like. Rather, it would have introduced what psychologists call an “interrupt” — a signal that triggers conscious thought — before a consumer moved on to a second 16 ounces.
People who really wanted to consume 32 ounces of sugar water in one sitting could easily just get up and get a refill. But those who would have consumed the second 16 ounces mindlessly, without the deliberate intention of doing so, would have been given the opportunity to exercise their own better judgment.
Blowback
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George Orwell is laughing.
Nice touch to try to tie together addiction and corporate marketing. LOL. And about the owner of Bloomberg Finance/TV/Whatever.
ThePrimordialOrderedPair on March 20, 2013 at 10:26 PM
What happened to the choice of choosing not to have to get up to get a refill? Speaking of mindless… here’s Loewenstein. Steen, schtein, whaddeva…
viking01 on March 20, 2013 at 10:29 PM
And he threw in a little false consciousness dig, too. These people really don’t believe people can fend for themselves.
Jeff Weimer on March 20, 2013 at 10:47 PM
Liberals should not be allowed to run for office. That would increase the choices voters have.
malclave on March 20, 2013 at 11:00 PM
This is true, as long as your “choice” agrees with what Nanny Bloomberg says your choice should be. Otherwise, you’re screwed.
RoadRunner on March 20, 2013 at 11:02 PM
Loewenstein’s logic is so twisted, calling it jesuitical would be a compliment.
Tyrone Slothrop on March 20, 2013 at 11:27 PM
Yeah, they really, really — deep down inside at the very bottom of their souls — really only want 16 oz of their favorite drink. Sure, they bypass the 16oz cup and go straight to the 32 oz cup, but we all know they really, really only wanted 16 oz. Bad, bad marketers, forcing those poor, helpless 16 oz-drinker wannabes to choose the bigger size.
‘Cuz no one ever has a conscious thought like, “You know, I really, really, really only want 16 oz, so I’ll buy the 16 oz size rather pay extra for something I don’t want anyway.”
CJ on March 20, 2013 at 11:44 PM
People don’t understand the purpose behind the 16 ounce limit.
By making it illegal to sell a half liter of sugared beverage, it ensures that the metric system will not take hold.
malclave on March 21, 2013 at 12:56 AM
Wow, how Orwellian. “War is Peace, freedom is slavery”
MoreLiberty on March 21, 2013 at 5:41 AM
Perhaps the soda ban could be handled like Gov. Cuomo’s 10-bullet magazine ban. Stores could still sell 32 ounce cups, but customers can only put 16 ounces in them.
One begins to believe that the people who vote these morons into office probably do need someone to do their thinking for them.
Quisp on March 21, 2013 at 6:36 AM
As congressman John Dingell once put it, “it takes some time to control the people”. And by control, of course, they actually mean freedom from making bad choices that you think you want but really don’t (or do, but are too stupid to know any better), or something.
crrr6 on March 21, 2013 at 6:56 AM
I think read about this guy in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. You know: the one who demonstrates his intellectual superiority by proving that black is white and then gets by a car while using a zebra crossing.
apostic on March 21, 2013 at 7:29 AM