I agree, only you know your own body, and what's prescribed as ultra-simplified plans often overlooks important details and can be flat out wrong, espoused by charlatans. So it's best to remain skeptical, I wouldn't argue against that, but would suggest that once you've found your rhythm and accumulated the relevant knowledge in confidence, then the actual execution of a healthy diet is exceedingly simple. It took me years to arrive at combinations that work for me, not merely to remain slim but to have vigor, energy. Mind you it takes extra work if you like novelty and delicious diverse food on a regular basis, to be sure.

If you were ballooning then I imagine grains, legumes and starches were overrepresented on your plate. You can scale up vegetables as well as the meat, most people don't have enough anyway.

There's no shortage of quick and easy ways to prepare healthy food. E.g. baked salmon (12 min in the oven) with basmati rice (5-6 min) and broccoli florets (1.5 min blanched, or microwave from frozen) works and would yield leftovers for the week. Stop making excuses.

The Japanese eat more vegetables, especially in areas renowned for life expectancy (Okinawa). City-goers, like those in China, are increasingly experiencing health issues due to westernization of their diets (i.e. refined food).

I'll add that calorie count is kind of redundant if you proportion the right foods correctly (giving representation to fat/protein, veggies, and some starch, grain or legume) and simply don't overstuff yourself, such that you reach a comfortable level of fullness (like 80-85%) and no more. I mean I could bother to count but it would still fall into the appropriate range for my age and height. If you aren't being gluttonous it's impossible to get obese with copious veggy intake and whole foods.

That variance is interesting, but it's a small part of the reason people get fat. Refined grain, sugar, and isolated fats (such as hydrogenated oil), coupled with absence of insoluble fiber in the diet and overall malnutrition would all get you there, and the habits encourage more consumption compared to nutrient-dense food (for the same reason you can mow down a huge bag of chips but can't eat the equivalent in fruit).
The calorie still has some utility as a measure, but broadly it's the least important. Of course, obese people have to be more conscious about those numbers since they'll just keep piling it on, but they seem to have blinders on about other aspects of their diet. I've seen some refuse to eat fruit and yet grab a large plate full of empty carbs and red meat.

Where I live in Ontario, there's no significant difference and that's certainly not a reflection of my income. Plus they tend to be located downtown, and farmers don't really "markup", the costs of production may be a bit higher for small-time but the farmers market allows you to sell directly to consumers. Have a look at the grocery carts for those shopping at Food Basics in the low-income area of this city (where I currently stay) and you'll find people spend a disproportionate amount on absolute shit, which tends to be marked up substantially. Not buying 2L of soda and bags of junk-food (not to mention cigs) alone would more than adequately spare sufficient cash for quality produce, but cash in itself isn't the issue when it comes to consumer behavior. At the other end of the spectrum we have middle-class yuppie types who try to carve an identity by buying stupid overpriced boutique shit, and will still pass over certain perishables due to price.

Ditto, there's absolutely no reason one ought to be paying 50% more for perishables at a farmer's market. The only exception here would be regional meat cuts and fish.

"I think that well-regulated capitalism means more economic growth." - I don't see how Sanders disagrees on this point.

He's no commie, not anymore than you could characterize all of Scandanavia as such.

Considering News is a monumental money-maker, echo chambers are inevitable by design.

Widely consumed News is generated by an oligopoly towering over a pool of other way-too-numerous sources online, some of which are quality. One course could be to proactively prop up and promote other select few news sources to accrue more readership.

Don't forget cash-strapped Europe was in debt to the U.S. following the war, and rather than allow cheap imports they slapped on tariffs and got prolonged repayments.

For all the trash talk about materialism though I don't think anyone forgets that "stuff" (including technology, services) is necessary for growth.

Man, I should really pick up the Classic. I'm still carrying a 9320 Curve. For a long time now I've dismissed smartphones as useless noise, bloat and ugliness but I'm starting to see the value in a few of the apps (e.g. Uber) and (now finally) a better web browsing experience.

Unless it's cleverly designed, relatively non-intrusive DRM consumers don't recognize as such (i.e. Steam). But yeah I agree. Game piracy has turned into such a hassle I imagine that fewer are engaging. Mind you, I see the value in hobbyist hacking/modding consoles and emulation, particularly for older stuff.

That's true, though it seems increasingly less relevant with the rise in availability of these titles for the PC, which are reliably cracked for the most part. Titles missing are typically console exclusives few in numbers.