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You know, that's exactly the issue they fought the civil war over starting in 1861. Seven of the Southern states agreed with you, and 25 Northern states were dead against it, and raised armies on the basis of preserving the Union.

The Baron de Tocqueville spent a bit of time talking about secession in his 1835 book Democracy in America, correctly picking that it was the Southern states most likely to try and also that they would be the most harmed by doing so. Some of his other predictions were less successful, he didn't expect the Federal Government would be able to quell a popular uprising, he thought the Union would split apart instead.
In reply to this comment by pyloricvalve:
Sorry I don't get it. What's wrong with this idea? If states could secede you could have a more diverse set of regimes and people could choose more the style of government they prefer by moving state... It seems like quite a good idea. I'm not an American so maybe I'm missing something but why is there animosity about people suggesting the idea? I don't mean to provoke. I'm just curious...

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You seem like a really reasonable person. Gary Taubes is probably the best authority on weightloss and health right now. Regardless of what the MD's say.

In reply to this comment by pyloricvalve:
That's interesting. When you say people fail, do they start to eat sugar and carbs again and get fat or do they stay not eating sugar and carbs and even so start to get fat again. If it is the former it doesn't mean it's not the correct way to lose weight, it just means people need more determination not to eat sugar and carbs. My impression is that the usual prescription of eat less exercise more is also very hard to maintain in the long run.

Again I strongly recommend the book. It's not so much a diet book as a book about the evolution of the dietary science.

>> ^DocDarm:

>> ^pyloricvalve:
In "Why we get fat", Gary Taubes argues very persuasively that the above is almost entirely wrong. Increasing exercise will have have the effect of increasing hunger or reducing your activity at other times through tiredness. Eating less will likewise reduce your activity level or lead to levels of hunger that are intolerable in the long term. The way to lose weight according to him is the Atkins, South Beach, Primal method of reducing sugar and carb intake to something very low. Personally I found it very convincing and I strongly recommend the book.

As a medical doctor, I call bullshit on this guy. Look at Atkins/South Beach's effect on peoples weight 1 year AFTER the diet. I see people go on diets all the time. They almost universally fail after 1 year. (Remember, we're talking about LONG-TERM weight loss, not SHORT-TERM weight loss...Atkins/South Beach perform very well in the short term!) My patients that go to the gym to lose weight do much, much better....but only if they KEEP going to the gym.

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