Naa! Just more Naaanny State drivel from Jewish World Review. As a Jew I can say this without being called anti-semitic: Good intentions do not justify confusing social justice with socialism.
All too often, Jews tend to blindly assume more government is a good thing because of an all too common presumption that government is, in and of its self, good.
Yes, people do live longer and have lower medical costs if they are not obese.
No, Mortie - that doesn't justify more Nanny State intrusion into our lives.
There are cures worse than the disease, and fat taxes are an excellent example of such "cures".
JWR isn't a Nanny State site. It does, however, carry Nanny-Staters from time to time as part of a fair and balanced approach.
Mort Kondracke is a Nanny Stater from way back. He's one of the last of the decent old-school Democrats, so such a column is to be expected out of him.
The term "social justice" may not be quite the same as "socialism," but I note that it is used pretty much interchangably. Hayek, for instance, remarked that to arrive at the true meaning of the term social justice, you could substitute the word "coercive" for the word "social."
It is true that even conservative Jews often look for government imposed solutions. Sometimes, as in national emergencies such as war, it's necessary, usually it isn't.