Oh, and I'm an activist

I hesitate to use the word activist, because I'm more of an inactivist if you think about it - but I do have certain causes that I stand for, such as marriage equality [yes, I'm a free thinker!] freedom FROM religion [but I'm not an atheist - I'm Gnostic], women's rights, especially women's rights to reproductive health [in laymen's terms that means I'm pro-choice. There is no such thing as 'pro-abortion' as the anti-choicers would have people think.] I'm also anti-Big Pharma, anti-medical establishment and anti-diet industry. What this means is - I no longer buy into the idea that pharmaceutical companies are diligently working on ways to cure our illnesses so that one day we won't lose people we love to cancer or diabetes or depression... I believe pharmaceutical companies are looking for ways to keep us hopped up on pills and dependent on medicine so they can keep making money. I am staunchly anti-cancer industry - meaning I don't believe chemotherapy is a cure for anything.

I don't like doctors. Sorry - that's the way it is. I've dealt with too many stupid ones to have much faith in them. Yes, I believe modern medicine can work miracles - it has preserved my son's eyesight for the last 16 years even though he suffers from glaucoma. I'm grateful for the medications and even the surgeries that have allowed him to live a normal life whereas had he been born 40 years ago or in a third world country he might be blind by now. However, I don't run to the doctor for every scheduled check up and get every recommended test because I think most of that crap is bogus. It's a way to drum up business. If we live our lives terrified of being sick, we pump money into Big Medical and we end up more sick. I go to the doctor if I don't feel well. I follow their instructions as much as they make sense and I yes them to death about making an appointment for my physical and then I go home. When I read stories about people who went to a doctor after years and found out they 'almost DIED' because there were diagnosed as being 'pre-diabetic' I just think that's pathetic and sad. I'll say it and not feel bad about it - a doctor is a tool - no more my partner in my life than a bottle of aspirin is my partner. I use a doctor when I need one, and when I don't I stay the hell away from them because they are in business to make money.

Lastly, I'm an advocate for a healthy lifestyle. I believe in HAES, health at every size and I despise people who harp constantly about weight loss, obesity and exercise as a means to get thin. Our society is falling apart around us because we're so busy worried about counting calories and not worried enough about polluting the earth.

As an inactivist, I keep most of my radical opinions to myself because I don't feel like wasting my energy battling with morons. But as an activist know that I'm here in the trenches waiting and if there's ever anything I can quietly do to undermine the cause of Big Diet, Big Pharma, Big Medical, Big Religion, or Big Industry, I'm there in a heartbeat.