France represents all of totalitarian Europe!

[Obvious Leo]

If our government insists that all food sold in supermarkets should be safe for people to eat is this an example of totalitarianism?

[bobevenson]

If our government insists that all food sold in supermarkets should be safe for people to eat is this an example of totalitarianism?

No, but telling magazines and models how to conduct their business is. And don't forget, this is just one example of France's totalitarian government gone berserk.

[Obvious Leo]

What if a magazine article directed at young disaffected Muslim men were to publish a manual on how to make and deploy a suicide vest? Should the government have the authority to prevent the publication of such an article?

[bobevenson]

What if a magazine article directed at young disaffected Muslim men were to publish a manual on how to make and deploy a suicide vest? Should the government have the authority to prevent the publication of such an article?

That kind of information is already available, including how to make explosives, etc., etc., etc. Do you live in a fucking cave??? Anyway, we're talking about the fucking French government's minutia control of France. Hitler was a saint compared to those bastards! Let's see, Hitler burned books, but France only edits them. Which is more inimical to free speech? At least with Hitler you knew where you stood. In France, it depends on the totalitarian winds.

[Obvious Leo]

That kind of information is already available, including how to make explosives, etc., etc., etc.

I'm well aware of this, Bob, but you're not answering my question. Internet material is beyond the reach of censorship but hard copy magazine censorship is still within the power of government. Do you agree that the government has a duty of care to its citizens to exercise this power in the common interest?

[Gary Childress]

What if a magazine article directed at young disaffected Muslim men were to publish a manual on how to make and deploy a suicide vest? Should the government have the authority to prevent the publication of such an article?

That kind of information is already available, including how to make explosives, etc., etc., etc. Do you live in a fucking cave??? Anyway, we're talking about the fucking French government's minutia control of France. Hitler was a saint compared to those bastards! Let's see, Hitler burned books, but France only edits them. Which is more inimical to free speech? At least with Hitler you knew where you stood. In France, it depends on the totalitarian winds.

I don't think government regulations on the fashion industry are quite up there with genocide and other barbaric actions associated with Hitler and the Nazis. You really seem to be getting a little too worked up over this. Are you feeling OK? (Not that you ever seem to have very much in the way of self composure. But still...)

[Arising_uk]

Gary, first of all, stay away from commenting on anything in America since you don't know a damned thing about this country. ...

Apart from being a damned American that is.

[SpheresOfBalance]

French lawmakers on Thursday adopted a bill forcing ultra-thin models to furnish a doctor’s certificate confirming they are healthy and magazines that Photoshop their silhouette to tag the images as “touched up”.

The bill stipulates that models must obtain a medical certificate stating that their health, “assessed in particular in terms of body mass index, is compatible with the practise of the (modelling) profession”.

Breaches of the law will be punishable by up to six months imprisonment and a fine of 75,000 euros ($82,000).

The lawmakers also voted that images of models that are altered to “make the silhouette narrower or wider” should be labelled “touched up.”

An earlier draft of the bill had caused howls of protest in the fashion industry by proposing that a minimum body mass index (a measure of body fat based on height and weight) be imposed for models.

In the end parliamentarians agreed to let doctors make the call on whether a model is too thin, taking into account a range of criteria, including age, gender and body shape.

An earlier version of the bill also made it an offence punishable by up to a year in jail to encourage excessive thinness, a measure aimed at “pro-ana” websites that are seen extolling and promoting anorexia or bulimia.

That proposal too was excised from the text adopted by the National Assembly or lower house of parliament on Thursday.

In France, an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 people — almost all of them adolescents — suffer from anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder with a high mortality rate.

Not that I'm supporting either anorexia or bulimia, but in fact scientists, many years ago now, have proven that 'all' animals live longer if hungry the majority of the time, they burn lean, as opposed to those satiated all time time, burning rich, which die younger. No, my dumb ass has been burning rich for quite some time now, but I'm working on it!

[bobevenson]

That kind of information is already available, including how to make explosives, etc., etc., etc.

I'm well aware of this, Bob, but you're not answering my question. Internet material is beyond the reach of censorship but hard copy magazine censorship is still within the power of government. Do you agree that the government has a duty of care to its citizens to exercise this power in the common interest?

Censorship of information is not a proper function of government.

[bobevenson]

What if a magazine article directed at young disaffected Muslim men were to publish a manual on how to make and deploy a suicide vest? Should the government have the authority to prevent the publication of such an article?

That kind of information is already available, including how to make explosives, etc., etc., etc. Do you live in a fucking cave??? Anyway, we're talking about the fucking French government's minutia control of France. Hitler was a saint compared to those bastards! Let's see, Hitler burned books, but France only edits them. Which is more inimical to free speech? At least with Hitler you knew where you stood. In France, it depends on the totalitarian winds.

I don't think government regulations on the fashion industry are quite up there with genocide and other barbaric actions associated with Hitler and the Nazis. You really seem to be getting a little too worked up over this. Are you feeling OK? (Not that you ever seem to have very much in the way of self composure. But still...)

I'm sorry, but freedom does not come in different sizes.

[Obvious Leo]

So you disagree that that the proper function of government is to execute the will of the people, Bob. How then do you define totalitarianism?

[bobevenson]

So you disagree that that the proper function of government is to execute the will of the people, Bob. How then do you define totalitarianism?

The only proper function of government is social integration, like a traffic cop keeping people from running into each other. Government should not own, operate, support, or promote anything. Divergence from this is by definition totalitarian.

[Obvious Leo]

So you don't think that discouraging vulnerable young women from starving themselves to death is relevant to the agenda of social integration, whatever the fuck that might mean? You've got to admit that "social integration" is a very inexact term which anybody is free to interpret in whichever way he chooses. Donald Trump presumably thinks that banning all Muslims from entering the US or kicking 11 million Mexicans out of the country will integrate the nation but is he right?

[bobevenson]

Listen, Oblivious, it's not the function of government to act as your nanny or surrogate mother. When are you going to learn to stand on your own two feet, as goddamned as they may be!

[Obvious Leo]

My feet are fine thanks, Bob, although my hips are fucked, but I can assure you that I'm perfectly self-reliant. I don't need a government to look after me but I'm acutely aware of the fact that this is more a question of good luck than good management. There are many people in my country far less fortunate than I am and since I live in a wealthy country I refuse to accept the proposition that these people should suffer unnecessary hardship solely as a consequence of an accident of birth. If that makes me a socialist then I'll wear the label with pride.