Can you imagine a time when Lysol was considered birth control? Crazy at it seems, it was marketed as such. According to Smithsonianmag.com:
'Feminine hygiene' was a euphemism. Birth control was illegal in the U.S. until 1965 (for married couples) and 1972 (for single people) ... Lysol ads [were] actually for contraception. The campaign made Lysol the best-selling method of contraception during the Great Depression.
By 1911 doctors had recorded 193 Lysol poisonings and five deaths from uterine irrigation. Despite reports to the contrary, Lysol was aggressively marketed to women as safe and gentle. Once cresol was replaced with ortho-hydroxydiphenyl in the formula, Lysol was pushed as a germicide good for cleaning toilet bowls and treating ringworm, and Lehn & Fink's, the company that made the disinfectant, continued to market it as safeguard for women's 'dainty feminine allure.'
I mention this simply to make the point that as consumers, seemingly we have had a long history of turning blind trust over to the marketplace.
Over time we have seen:
Cigarette companies sponsoring American Medical Association conferences.
Doctors marketing cigarettes.
Soda companies using toddlers to sell soda.
Cancer fundraisers underwritten by the likes of Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Beyoncé joining First Lady Michelle Obama in the "Let's Move" campaign to fight childhood obesity, urging children to get out and move... only to be peddling Pepsi during her day job.
The sure way to put an end to a multitude of health consequences is by working to prevent them altogether. Somehow, we as consumers have been conditioned to be the virtual lab rats for harebrained ideas.
And why?
Because this is America?
Because we can do whatever we want?
We see it all the time with a whole host of products and services that undermine the health of Americans. Today we still see indoor tanning salons marketing to teenagers for high school proms even though science has shown that tanning beds cause melanoma and premature death.
Tobacco companies are aggressively promoting e-cigarettes, hooking the next generation on false ideas that e-cigarettes are without risk -- even though emerging studies are showing that not only are e-cigarettes themselves a danger, but they may also be a gateway to further addictions.
As consumers walk down any aisle in the grocery story, most have little or no knowledge of what exposures lie within the packaging of many prepared foods, personal care items, and cleaning products. Many Americans willingly bring these things into their homes with little knowledge of the consequences they might bring to bear on their families.
Although we'd like to look to legislators to work toward protecting the public, we know that for every legislator out there working to protect public health there are 10 more that are not. For decades, chemical legislation has typically looked more like a ping-pong match than anything else. It's confusing and by no means a guarantee of protecting public health; consumers today are left trying to understand the safety and effects of 80,000+ chemicals in the marketplace.
If we want to celebrate independence, we can start by rejecting the status quo.
You may not be particularly interested in health issues like diabetes, heart disease, or cancer today -- but one day you will be interested. It may be too late, but you will be interested.
One day you will decide -- I don't want this for myself, my children, or their children.
One day you will decide -- it is not freedom to wear the "invisible shackles" chaining you to the cost of the consequences of your neighbors' obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
It is not freedom to be shackled to the will of corporations who care about nothing other than profit. American consumers have a history of having to mop up the mess brought on by consequences of convenience and profit.
Make this the start of asserting your independence by tapping into your own personal leadership and questioning the safety of products and services. Question legislators, lobbyists, and corporations. Do not merely assume that because something is for sale it is safe or good for human health.
Please understand that, as consumers and Americans, you have more options and choices than you know. Celebrate your independence by not being led by current marketing and legislative processes that are not in your best interest or the interest of your family's health and well-being.
The thing we can celebrate most about being Americans is that we can -- and should -- question authority.