This is the Kator Daily Podcast for Friday, July 19th, 2024. I'm Caleb Brown.

The definition of public health has expanded dramatically.

Far from communicable diseases or contaminated water,

the range of acceptable public health concerns

now includes things like junk food, secondhand smoke,

and most recently the Surgeon General's assertion that

guns pose a public health threat.

Cato's Jeff Singer details what interventions might be heaped upon us in the name of public health.

Jeff, if you don't mind, help me understand the common phrase public health a little

better because a lot of societal problems that are placed under the

umbrella of public health do not seem to fit at least my view of what those words

mean.

Well, I think you're not alone.

I think it's very frustrating to see how the definition of public health

seems to have expanded, particularly over the last few decades.

So my understanding of public health

and what public health should pertain to

is what I call health issues of the Commons.

So for example, when human activities affect the

health and well-being of their neighbors in common areas, like for example the

spread of communicable diseases or dumping of

sanitation into an area that could cause other people to get sick. These are

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