The score is McDonald’s 1, stupid people 0. It seems that in today’s society — where filing lawsuits has surpassed baseball as America’s pastime — some judges know when to say “no.” A federal judge ruled to drop a case where the plaintiffs argued McDonald’s fries and burgers were the cause of obesity in youth.

I can easily say with confidence that McDonald’s food is anything but healthy, and anyone who seriously believes they are not going to get fat eating their greasy food and drinking the Super-Sized colas are out of their minds. Individuals should be responsible for their own appetites. No one at McDonald’s has ever held a gun to your head and said, “You must Super-Size this or else.”

As a large person myself, I do not go around blaming other people for my problem, nor do I file suit against large fast-food conglomerates because of any health problems I have or may develop. It is a conscious choice to eat whatever food I eat and no one should be held responsible but me. This same attitude is absent from the vast majority of Americans’ minds.

Lawsuits similar to this against large fast-food chains parallel many lawsuits against the tobacco industry filed in the past decade. While some of the earlier tobacco cases were warranted because of cover-ups and misinformation from the tobacco industry during the early 1900s, cases that stem from more recent smoking complications are out of line because it is an accepted fact that smoking is potentially fatal.

This sort of clear-cut fact should instantly rule out any type of lawsuit against a company. When products’ hazards are held as common knowledge in our society, we cannot possibly hold corporations responsible for the ignorance shown by their uninformed consumers.

By allowing frivolous lawsuits, we are only teaching society that people are no longer responsible for their actions. When your lungs are black and cancerous, simply sue Phillip Morris. When you are fat and ugly and no one likes you, sue McDonald’s. When your liver explodes, sue Budweiser.

It is time people begin to once again take responsibility for their decisions. If you have eaten McDonald’s for the majority of your young life and have become obese as a result, try dieting and begin exercising. If you are choking on each puff of a cigarette and cannot breathe, put the cancer stick out. If you are passed out drunk every other night and your liver is torn to shreds, become the designated driver — for life.

While alcohol or greasy foods will not cause permanent damage if they are used in moderation, repeated and excessive use will almost certainly lead to an untimely death. Individual choice is the cause of the problems and not corporate insensitivity.

There is more than just individual responsibility at stake when it comes to these types of frivolous lawsuits. The overabundance of civil claims has created an intolerable burden on the legal system. The traffic jam of pointless lawsuits slows the court system, which harms those who have more important and legitimate grievances.

The decision of the judge to drop this particular case against McDonald’s — preventing this obvious sham from becoming the precedent for what the judge referred to as “McTrials” — should be applauded for making a stand against the types of lawsuits which many people get away with every day.

Not only does the ruling temporarily hold the door shut on the barrage of lawsuits waiting the major fast-food chains, but it may also prove to be a step toward eliminating these frivolous lawsuits from our legal systems permanently.

This is a hopeful sign that the legal system may finally be changing its ways toward forcing a finger-pointing society to claim responsibility for its own foolish and self-destructive actions.

Joey Maresca is a junior in electrical and computer engineering. He can be reached for comment at [email protected].