How Much Power Does the Government Have?

If the government can compel us to purchase health care, for our own good, what else can they force us to do?  That is the question asked by Prof. Jacobson at Legal Insurrection.  It was suggested in the comments that the government could force us to purchase a gym membership.  Sounds reasonable (in our current Bizzaro World).  After all, if we all exercised we would be healthier.  Of course, merely owning a gym membership doesn't make us any healthier than merely owning a health insurance policy does.  I guess our gyms could issue us membership cards that would record how often we go to the gym, how long we spend on each machine, etc., and transmit the info to the IRS who would tax us based on the amount of exercise we engage in per week.

While we're at it, wouldn't it be a good idea if the government compelled us each to follow the food pyramid?  We would certainly be healthier.  They could issue us all a card that we would swipe at the grocery store checkout or restaurant register and our purchases could be transmitted to the IRS who would tax us based on how closely we follow the FDA guidelines.

Now that I think about it, there is no end to the number of things that the government could compel us to do for our own good.  We'd be better off, right?

H/T  Backyard Conservative