Pave: Socialist Paradise In Decline: Titillation

Le jour 462 de Sarko

France's worsening economy purportedly claims another French indulgence, passive voyuerism.

BEACH GOERS IN FRANCE GOING TOPLESS LESS

TOULON August 9, 2008 (UPI) - Going topless on beaches in French beach communities like St. Tropez has suddenly fallen out of fashion due to a number of factors, an expert says.

French academic Dr. Guy Fournier said while female beach goers in France have traditionally bared their breasts without a second thought, the trend has declined due in part to the declining economy, The (British) Daily Mail said Friday. Dr. Guy Fournier:

Bare breasts are viewed as a totally natural state on the beach. But public morality follows people's confidence and optimism in their wealth and lifestyle. During an economic downturn, women are less inclined to let it all hang out and more likely to cover up.

Now perhaps you, unlike the UPI, think that Dr. Fournier has put forward an incoherent explanation laden with enthymemes gone begging. Dr. Fournier seems to argue that prudishness follows markets in some direct measurable way. But he offers no measures. No comparative historical study. Not so much as an interview of a former topless bather. In Dr. Fournier's surgery any two dots are connectable -- which makes for fun theory, if bad science.

So let us look at the "topless lessness" dot and find it a more plausible originating companion.

[A quick search of the news wires and an overlarge dot presents itself almost immediately.]

We suggest the below is a good reason there is less toplessness on French beaches. If you have attained the proportions of a hippopotamus, you are more likely to stuff as much of your abundance as will fit in a spandex body girdle for your day at the beach.

FRENCH BEACH PARADE
Topless? No Thank You, We've Seen Enough
[Photo source: Durand Florence/ABC News/SIPA/AP Photo]

The plumping of France is not news.* However it is a fell wound to the French fairy tale of a streamlined national somatotype.

OBESITY IN FRANCE

December 20, 2005 (The Economist) - The rate of obesity in France has started to swell, rising from 8% of the adult population in 1997 to 11% by 2003. Over 40% of the French are now considered overweight. According to a recent Senate report, France has the same share of fat people today as America did in 1991— and an upward trend to match. And these numbers may understate the problem. The 2005 OECD health study says that obesity rates in Britain, at 23%, and America, at 31%, are higher. But it points out that the French figures, unlike British and American ones, are based on polls asking people if they are fat. Unsurprisingly, denial intrudes; self-reporting produces underestimates.

Oh! That the French should fib out of vanity. Perish the thought.

FRENCH "TAILLES FINES" GIVING WAY TO XXL

PARIS September 23, 2006 (China Daily/Reuters) - The French are becoming bigger and fatter and French women in particular are increasingly giving up on their renowned "taille fine," a survey that tracks weight patterns in France shows.

Nearly 42 percent of the French population older than 15 years has a weight problem, an ObEpi-Roche survey showed on Tuesday. Almost a third is overweight and 12.4 percent is obese.

What to do? How about one of those subtle French PSAs?

OBESITY KILLS
Attention ! Si vous êtes gros, ce n'est pas une critique !
[Graphic source: CNAO]

Well, that of course has had zero effect. Time to ready the French solution for everything.

FRANCE WEIGHS RAISING TAX ON FATTY FOODS

PARIS August 6, 2008 (WSJ) - Two French government agencies have recommended raising the sales tax on high-fat and high-sugar food and drinks in an attempt to fight an increasing obesity problem in France.

The report, expected to go before Parliament in the fall, calls for an increase in the value-added tax to 19.6% from the current 5.5% on foods that are high in fat, sugar and salt. It also targets snack foods, such as potato chips.

That is a big fat 356% increase.

JUNK FOOD LEADS TO FRENCH OBESITY

LONDON August 8, 2008 (ABC News) - More than one-third of the French are obese or overweight. A controversial memo submitted to the government recommends a tax increase on junk food... But would that deter families from buying chocolate bars, chips and soda? Not at all, says Paris-based nutritionist Dr. Arnaud Cocaul:

The tax idea is rather stupid. It is very difficult to say which product is good and which product is bad.

Even the Confederation Paysanne, an organization that defends traditional farmers and French-quality products, deemed the idea ludicrous. That opposition is surprising, given that the organization's flamboyant leader, Jose Bove, earned worldwide fame after he trashed a McDonald's restaurant and burned genetically modified corn fields in 1999. Philippe Colin, the confederation's national secretary:

This is scandalous. You may forbid some products because they are deemed unhealthy, but you cannot raise taxes on them, especially now that the French are struggling with rising food prices...just another tax to fix the government's budget situation.

And here we find ourselves agreeing with M. Colin. "Sin" taxes are fundamentally dishonest. If the "sin" poses a mortal danger to the public, the government has an obligation to forbid it. If the "sin" is a lifestyle choice of overindulgence or immobility, then the government should encourage better choices. But what government would survive imposing a limited national menu and a modest exercise regimen? A potato chip in and of itself does not cause obesity. Planting oneself and eating 10 pounds at a sitting day-in-day-out might, though not to a certainty.

Governments love "sin" taxes because -- as the hike contemplated here by the French illustrates -- the sky's the limit. The bigger the tax, the more rectifying virtue. It's all good.

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* See here and here.

PFFT (What is this?): Topless economy 0 | Rayonnement français 0

Posted by Damian at August 19, 2008 04:45 PM