Fairness, or jealousy?

Now that we essentially have an effective diet pill - Ozempic and its ilk, there appears to be some disgruntlement from those who lost weight the “right” way. The diet and exercise weight losers are saying the Ozempic users are merely taking a shortcut. And by taking a shortcut, they are a lesser people because they did not put in the long and consistent work necessary.

Those who summited Mount Everest would rightly jeer at a person who took an elevator up there instead. Those who work and saved diligently to pay off student loans would rightly condemn those got theirs loans forgiven by the government. That’s just how the world works: fairness is not a guarantee.

But I don’t think it’s about fairness. It’s simply jealousy. Those who diet their fat off are jealous of the possibility that Ozempic now offers, a possibility that they can no longer take (because they’re now skinny). The envious ones would have no qualms about taking the drug if they were to start all over.

Those who paid off their students loans are just mad the offer of forgiveness no longer applies to them. The government is giving out money, and they are not eligible.

Good news for them: federal student loans aren’t in danger of being forgiven anytime soon. Not with this administration, not with this Supreme Court. And honestly, why should all taxpayers subsidize a small group of people who chose to go to university? A group who are more likely to come from the middle class. Armed with a degree, a group with higher lifetime earnings on average.

The high school dropout earning minimum wage at a fast food restaurant should not be forced to have his tax money pay for that.

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Or else!

A quicker way

Whoever invents muscle protein synthesis in a pill form is going to make many billions. Who the heck would want to workout many times a week just to be in decent shape? Even the most insufferable lovers of the gym will have lazy days, when they much rather lie on the couch with a laptop. But, until the day the muscle-making pill becomes reality, I shall continue pushing these weights on a consistent basis.

Fitness is tough work, multiplied over many months and years. I can see why people are quick to hop off that train. Shortcuts - what’s what we want, right? Shortcuts for everything. Social media has shown us the fantastic end results that we all want right now. How can I get as rich as Warren Buffett without putting in the decades of work and patience? (Crypto, obviously.) How can I lose fat without the immense willpower needed to eat less over a long period?

Ozempic. Kind of crazy to realize that we essentially have an effective diet pill. (Yes, I know these semaglutide GLP-1 agonist drugs are needle shots - you get the idea.) If I weren’t already skinny and lean, I’d be shooting myself weekly with that drug. Why put in the work when there’s a shortcut? Sure, there’s no free lunch, especially when it comes to drugs. But there’s downsides to exercising, too: time loss, working out becoming your entire personality.

I think semaglutide drug for weight loss is great news for folks in the higher BMI ranges, the people who have struggled to lose weight. Even the absolute lazy ones deserve a chance to lower their all-cause mortality by getting leaner. These drugs will only get better - in terms of mitigating side-effects - and cheaper. Thereby more accessible by more of the population. Health insurance companies should be very happy to cover Ozempic, because that open heart surgery down the line costing cost way more will be obviated.

Pharmaceutical companies: please do muscle-protein synthesis next. Because some days, working out is a total chore and a half.

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Trap you.