This is a really interesting piece, and these points are ones I notice a lot in the discourse around GLP-1 drugs: much of the antipathy to them is in & of itself fatphobia, anger or anxiety that takers are “cheating” their way out of the fat = lazy, slim = hard work paradigm.

yeah I think critics just have to be honest with themselves, right? I spent a while wondering why I had Serious Concerns About Ozempic then searched my soul and realised that I was just peeved *I* had to work out a lot and change my diet entirely to lose weight, and now people wouldn't have to

and that's obviously not an actual reason to dislike something lol - I guess I do think that going through that myself did teach me an amount of discipline I wouldn't have got otherwise but also if people prefer the easy way out.....I couldn't possibly begrudge them for that

And on the drugs you still have to have discipline - they make it easier to make healthy choices, but you still have to actually make them or you won’t lose weight. I think many people also find exercise easier, more pleasant & even less humiliating when they’re not carrying a lot of extra weight.

I remain quite hostile to Ozempic, but I think that's because I live in the United States, where everything is just set up to make a healthy lifestyle difficult and expensive, both in terms of diet and exercise, and then everywhere there are billboards offering a $1k a month escape from it

I recognise for many many people the drugs are a giant boon, and they make huge amounts of sense for individuals. But it would be nice if this country just once tried to solve a collection action problem

I get this, but as you’ve articulated it (and obviously know) this is a problem with the system, not the drug itself. Of course any sensible healthcare system should be nationalised and holistic, supporting health in all sorts of ways, including but not limited to accessible meds where appropriate

I'm not even talking about the healthcare system here. I am talking about the built environment, primarily. It's so hard to live healthily in a place where you can't even *walk* (which is not my neighbourhood but is most of America)

feel like it's also hard to eat the normal amount of healthy, food shopping there is either "these sausages are two dollars and somehow just fat, sugar and additives" or "please pay fifteen dollars for 100g of pasta made exclusively from mung beans", which....not that much in between