Individual responsibility. Self-control. Personal accountability. Many people don’t know what these concepts mean and how they should be used to enhance their life, or at the very least, their standard of living.

We all know fast food is unhealthy and fattening. We all know tobacco products cause cancer, infest your body with harsh chemicals and break you down from the inside out. These are medically documented facts and to insist otherwise would be thoughtless and imprudent.

People still smoke, chew snuff and eat fried foods. You are free to do so, thus you make the decision for yourself to ingest these products and put your health at risk. However, more often the plague of political correctness and its satellite illnesses takes hold and writes a blank check for those feigning victimization or misfortune as a result of their own stupidity and neglect.

In September, a group of New York men filed a class action lawsuit against several large fast food companies (McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King and KFC) claiming they didn’t know how fattening the food was and blaming the companies for causing their obesity.

A previous lawsuit by a pair of overweight teenagers set the stage for the judicial theatrics, giving unscrupulous lawyers (such as John Banzhaf, the lawsuit’s lead attorney) the fuel he needed to attempt a tug at our heartstrings with wild claims that our children are the true victims of fattening cooking.

“When we’re suing on behalf of children, it’s hard to argue that six-, eight- or 10-year-old children have to take full responsibility for their decisions when they’re lured into McDonald’s by the toys, the playground, the Happy Meals and the birthday parties.”

“Lure” is a strong word. I can lure my dog with a piece of food, but that doesn’t mean she’ll eat it.

Even if they were supposedly “lured,” Mr. Banzhaf is making it seem like these six-, eight- or 10-year-old children are adults, independent of any parental control and able to decide for themselves what they eat and where they go.

When a young child is a morbidly obese slob, the solution is simple: blame the parents.

Chances are little Johnny’s mommy and daddy couldn’t bring themselves to say, “No, Johnny, you can’t eat that entire jar of mayonnaise with a box of Twinkies and a large pizza. It’s bad for you.”

The issue of frivolous lawsuits transcends the fast food industry. In 2000, a Florida jury awarded a $145 billion settlement from five tobacco companies to a group of Florida smokers stricken with illness because of their habit. The plaintiffs claimed the tobacco companies provided false information about the level of nicotine in their product, and the jury bought it, hook, line and sinker.

Despite what the tobacco companies knew and what the public was told, surgeon-general’s warnings have been put on cigarette packs since 1965. For decades, doctors the world over have been warning smokers about the dangers of nicotine, leaving nobody in the dark about the possible medical ramifications from using tobacco products.

Everyone knows tobacco is bad for you, so why should a tobacco company be responsible when the health risks of nicotine have been publicized since just before the Vietnam War?

A ruling of this nature sends the message to money-hungry, self-serving smokers nationwide that if they destroy their body with cigarettes and become ill due to their own poor health habits, they should be reimbursed for their own foolishness.

God help us.

The gate has been left wide open and the bar has been lowered in our country’s legal proceedings. Soon we’ll see lawsuits against Coca-Cola and Folgers by people claiming they didn’t know how caffeine was both addictive and a cause of high blood pressure.

Congratulations, America. No longer are we responsible for any of the ridiculous and destructive things we do.

Andy Topetzes is a senior in political science and criminology. Send all comments to [email protected].