Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of a Big Gulp
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June 7 (Bloomberg) -- The basic case against New York MayorMichael Bloomberg’s latest crusade, to outlaw the sale of extra-large sugared soft drinks, is Libertarianism 101: In a freecountry, people should have the right to do what they want, evenif it’s bad for them.
The major exceptions and complications to this basicprinciple don’t seem to apply. Unlike secondhand smoke, myconsumption of a Pepsi does no direct harm to anyone else.Unlike marijuana, sugary drinks have a perfectly adequate andlegal substitute: sugar-free drinks. (Even if you can tell thedifference between Coke and Diet Coke, you can’t claim that thedifference is very large.) And unlike a regulated pharmaceuticaldrug, a single dose of Coca-Cola won’t kill you.