Paul Mason

Unemployed, bedridden Paul Mason recently attracted attention through his dubious achievement of becoming at 70 stone reportedly the world's fattest man. Aside from the details on how Mr Mason has managed to attain this weight and the unsurprisingly negative consequences, the crucial broader question is who is paying for the results of Mr Mason's excesses?

As distasteful as Mr Mason's weight is, I would argue that he has the right to choose what he does to his own body. However, his indulgence is apparently costing the taxpayer £100,000 annually. With average earnings in the UK being about £25,000, this effectively means that 4 people are spending their entire annual earnings on supporting the fattest man in the world.

Can it really be justified, that so much is extracted from the taxpayer for an entirely self inflicted condition? And how many others are being paid by the taxpayer to fatten themselves?

Two thousand years ago, another Paul made an apt contribution to the subject:

"For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat."

II Thessalonians 3:10

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Articles about Paul Mason

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/6394019/Worlds-fattest-man-has-1m-care-bill.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/6388052/Worlds-heaviest-man-must-have-surgery-or-die.html


Average UK earnings from

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=285