Socialism 2026 speaker declares war on diets, BMI and Ozempic as ‘body fascism’

BS BULLETIN:

Author and activist Da’Shaun L. Harrison told a Socialism 2026 audience that the policing of “Black fat flesh” helps underpin broader systems of governance.
Harrison took aim at the diet industry, BMI, the concept of an obesity epidemic and even GLP-1 weight-loss drugs while describing modern health and weight standards as part of “body fascism.”
The remarks came during an official conference session titled “Health Fascism, Body Politics, and the Anti-State State.”

Forget counting calories. Diet itself may now be fascist.

A speaker at the Socialism 2026 conference in Chicago delivered an extraordinary critique of dieting, obesity standards, and modern medicine Saturday, arguing that efforts to regulate weight are connected to systems of political and racial control.

Da’Shaun L. Harrison, an author and activist, appeared alongside Beatrice Adler-Bolton and Artie Vierkant on a panel officially titled “Health Fascism, Body Politics, and the Anti-State State.”

More than 200 people attended the discussion, according to Fox News. Harrison argued that the policing of “Black fat flesh” anchors broader systems of governance and challenged some of the most familiar concepts in modern medicine.

“Without a population to discipline, there would be no BMI, no obesity epidemic,” Harrison said, also aiming at medical and scientific institutions organized around managing weight.

The criticism didn’t stop at BMI. Harrison portrayed the diet industry as part of a system in which fat people are monitored, restricted, and punished, and argued that diet culture associates restraint with virtue and pleasure with danger.

Then came “body fascism.”

Harrison argued that abstaining from pleasure can train people in obedience, self-denial, and discipline in service of a larger political order.

“Body fascism is not some relic of the past,” Harrison said. “It’s an active feature of modern imperial regimes.”

Even the weight-loss revolution wasn’t spared. Harrison also turned to GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic, arguing that the broader political push to treat fatness as a public-health problem cannot be separated from race.

🚨 Da’Shaun L. Harrison at Socialism 2026 argues that the policing of “Black fat flesh” is foundational to broader “entire systems of governance.”

“Without a population to discipline, there would be no BMI, no obesity epidemic, and no medical or scientific institutions organized… pic.twitter.com/GP4foaTgUJ

— Stu Smith (@thestustustudio) September 5, 2026

The panel wasn’t an obscure gathering on the fringe of the conference schedule.

Socialism 2026’s own program listed the session Saturday morning as part of its “Health Fascism Series.” The four-day Chicago conference features scores of panels, lectures and workshops on topics ranging from capitalism and climate change to ICE, reparations and what organizers call “tech oligarchy.”

Harrison wasn’t alone in challenging conventional ideas about physical health. Fellow panelist Adler-Bolton argued that the political left should abandon what she described as the “fantasy of being fitter than the fascists,” according to clips circulated by Manhattan Institute investigative analyst Stu Smith.

Her preferred alternative?

“In fact, the more dysgenic, the better, I think,” she said.

So there you have it. Dieting can be political discipline. BMI can be an instrument of control. Ozempic can become part of a fascistic system.

And apparently getting fitter than the fascists isn’t the answer either.

MY QUICK TAKE

I remember when losing a few pounds meant skipping dessert and taking a walk. Now apparently the cheesecake is resistance.

More from Harrison, who describes modern society as “a world fixated on genociding fat people.” https://t.co/W6VJBv28O2

— Stu Smith (@thestustustudio) September 5, 2026