Obesity of human body and obesity of human society

Most people recognize the accumulation of large amount of fat in our bodies is harmful. Yet many still feel the accumulation of large amount of wealth in our society is beneficial. There are many parallels between the obesity of human body and obesity of human societies. In the following, we will list some.

First, obesity chokes the transportation routes. Many obese people have hypertension. We have difficulty sending nutrients to distant parts of the body. In serious cases, people have to amputate their limbs. Similarly, too much wealth in our society chokes the transportation routes. Many wealthy societies have bad traffic jam. We have difficulty sending products to distant parts of the society. As societies become richer, more and more rural communities are abandoned.

Second, obesity often cause diabetes. When we have too much food to eat, our body could not utilize them all. Some food are discharged as sugar in urine. The excess nutrients remain in our body often attract many bacteria. They infect our body and eventually rot the whole body. Similarly, when our society has too much wealth, it could not utilize them all. Some wealth are squandered as wastes. The excess wealth remained in our society often support drug abuse and other forms of decadent activities. The widespread drug abuse infect our society and eventually rot the whole society.

Third, obesity reduces fertility. When we are obese, our body requires a lot energy to maintain the huge amount of body mass. There is little extra energy to spend on next generation. Similarly, a wealthy society require a lot of energy to maintain its lifestyle. Just imagine, one billionaire could consume many people’s life to serve his or her fantasy. There is little extra energy to spend on next generation. That is why wealthy societies generally have very low fertility rates. Over time, all wealthy societies turned into aging societies, lost their vitality and were conquered by much poorer and younger societies.

Fourth, obesity reduces mobility. When we are overweight, it is very difficult to move around. One might think rich people travel frequently while poor people rarely travel. This is true. However, people in wealthy societies rarely migrate. People in rich countries rarely migrate to poor countries. Residents in powerful political centers and business centers, such as Beijing, rarely migrate to other places. People in poor countries or poor places, on the other hand, often migrate to other places. Over time, people in poor places take over the world while people in wealthy societies could not compete with those hungrier new comers.

Many people have recognize the harm of obesity. With this recognition, we start to tackle the problems caused by excess weight. Only when enough people recognize the harm caused by excess wealth, we will be able to tackle the problems caused by it.