>>9965>There are plenty of working class people in developed countries who manage to eat well and remain active (maybe not so much in the US) despite being from a low economic class. One does not need to shell out fat wads of cash on Wholefoods, organic vegan asparagus water fairtrade shit to remain healthy. I myself can cook a large yet healthy dinner that lasts for two days for not much more than a dollar.It's a complicated situation. I agree that people have personal agency, and that elites (even, or especially, elite leftists) don't really understand the lives and values of the everyday masses. But still... as a Brit who I assume has never spent any serious length of time living in a non-touristy part of the US, you might not realize just how much everyday life for a non-elite American is like a conspiracy designed to make you fat.
The money part is kind of a red herring, the real issue is lifestyle. Being able to walk or take functional public transit in your everyday life is a luxury that only people in a handful of major cities have access to, so a lot of Americans spend a huge chunk of their non-working time behind the wheel of a car. I was amazed visiting the UK and Europe as a tourist to discover the quality of everyday life that you guys take for granted. The car lifestyle is a huge time suck, and if you don't have a job that involves physical exertion, it leads to further physical deterioration because you're spending that much more time sitting on your ass and not getting any kind of exercise. (And if you're too poor to own a car, America outside of the top-tier cities is a humiliating shitshow -- either you rely on an underfunded public bus system that doesn't show up half the time, or you can't go anywhere at all.)
And as
>>9952 pointed out, that's even before you get into the sheer amount of sugar, HFCS and refined carbs poured into every kind of American convenience food, even the stuff that's branded as "healthy." Yeah, if you're handy with beans and savory vegetables, you can eat meals that are healthier and cheaper than the convenience food diet. But it's not really about money, it's about the convenience and cheap energy spike that prepackaged junk food gives. I'm stably middle class and can afford high quality ingredients, but even for someone like me it's hard not to reach for the convenience of snack foods after a shitty day at work, a long commute, and the rest of my household and family chores. It's just a buck or two at any gas station, and it's right there with zero meal prep or cleanup, so why not?
With personal self-discipline you can push back against all of these things. But it means taking the path of resistance all the time in a way that's hard to sustain if you're not the kind of self-disciplined workaholic who'd be gunning for an elite spot anyway.
tl;dr if you're serious about moving to the US and marrying a heartland fatty, better develop a mutual gaining fetish because you'll end up as one of us