I just finished watching the movie Food.Inc, which after completion, I have to say is the best documentary I have seen yet this year (which is coming to it’s end soon). I had read 2 books that drastically changed the way I looked at food, and the world around me. The first was Barbara Kingsolver’s "Animal Vegetable Miracle" and the Second was Michael Pollan’s "In defense of food". Both of these books have had an impact not only on me but on my many patients, too whom I probably am beginning to sound much like an annoying preacher. The movie food.inc was in many ways a movie with a similar message to the books, but I think it solidifies the rule that images are worth a thousand words. Watching the immigrant workers who had given their blood, sweat, and tears to support there family (and  large U.S Ag, and chemical business) get removed from there homes like hardened criminals and taken out to slaughter like the cattle which they process. Well it was visceral, and I found myself disgusted, and again, for the same reason I can no longer watch the news, I began to take it personally.  I had read once a great quote about the two greatest dangers to mankind being fear and greed. In many way’s this is very true, because at the core human beings are kind and loving, yet these two "feeling" dominate the world and are at the root of most (if not all) of it’s injustices.

Also, At the gym today I began listening to another equally compelling book titled "nudge" I was going to try and put it into context but the synopsis on the web site did such a great job:

"Thaler and Sunstein invite us to enter an alternative world, one that takes our humanness as a given. They show that by knowing how people think, we can design choice environments that make it easier for people to choose what is best for themselves, their families, and their society. Thaler and Sunstein demonstrate how thoughtful choice architecture can be established to nudge us in beneficial directions without restricting freedom of choice."

After just the first two chapters, and while sweating buckets on the treadmill at the gym this book confirmed one of my long held theories. Certain areas of policy in this world can not be left up to open debate among the public, it is a nice thought and sounds good, that is democracy after all right? But, the truth of the matter is, things like health care, long term savings, insurance (just to name a few)  that impact us in the long run, that require delayed gratification, intimate knowledge of the system, and an incalculable rate of return, should be automated so as to provide the most desirable outcome for individuals.  Period.

This could be debated until the end of time, but I think the outcome measurements are simple and very easy to interpret, if you break them down to their fundamental parts, which at the core lies a person’s basic needs.

We are all affected by advertising, we are social beings, we want to please and to be accepted. We will choose what people want us to choose and most of the time this is unconscious behavior.

The majority of us our not capable of making rational decisions when it comes to policy that requires immediate, and wrongly perceived"sacrifice" in favor for long term returns.

1 in 3 people will suffer from type 2 diabetes if born after the year 2000

1 in 2 people will suffer from type 2 diabetes if born after the year 2000 and are minorities

the majority of illness today is fully preventable and is based on what we choose at any moment to put in our mouth

consumer debt continues to rise

less than half of all Americans with employee matched savings plan contribute anything

More than half of the U.S population is without health insurance or under-insured

More than half of all bankruptcies are health or disability related

Only 10% of U.S workers are protected in the event of disability, risking a 1 in 4 chance of loosing their greatest asset, the abiility to earn income.

The U.S tax bracket, this one is for married filing jointly:

Married Filing Jointly or Qualifying Widow(er) Filing Status

(Tax Rate Schedule Y-1)

·         10% on the income between $0 and $16,700

·         15% on the income between $16,700 and $67,900; plus $1,670

·         25% on the income between $67,900 and $137,050; plus $9,350

·         28% on the income between $137,050 and $208,850; plus $26,637.50

·         33% on the income between $208,850 and $372,950; plus $46,741.50

·         35% on the income over $372,950; plus $100,894.50

Wow, a full 10 percent change from 67k to 69k, yet the next 10% change is from 137k to 373k and then 0% change above that! The highest tax bracket is a corporate bracket which is 39% but the highest income tax is 35%….. Wow!

There is too much I have tried to say in this blog post, but the truth is this: There is a simple solution to most of  societies most debated policy. We should use choice architecture to help people make decisions that benefit them in the long term, without having to "feel"  or necessarily be aware of  any sacrifice in the short term. And in the end if society as a whole can not make the fully rational decision, we need responsible, smart, and trustworthy people in government to make policy that fits a simple (Pasquini) equation:

(short term consequences / long term gains)  * G = ratio of societal bliss

G= greed quotient: this like the e in Einsteins theory of relativity, and is directly related to the speed of light!!!