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The_Dunedan · 02-28-2010, 04:52 AM

I don't grok this argument at all.

The principle seems to be that Government edict (aka force) should be used to protect people from the consequences of knowingly making what could be unhealthy decisions; ie the decision to eat and drink in a place where people smoke. The argument seems to be that people are somehow -forced- to enter smoke-friendly businesses, forced to spend their money there, forced to inhale the smoke, and forced to come back.

Duh: if you don't want to be in a smoky bar, just don't go into one. Find a non-smoking establishment and patonise them instead. If allowing smoking becomes unprofitable, guess what? The landlord will either ban smoking or go out of business, so the "problem" is peacefully solved!

It is not the Govt's job to protect people from their own stupidity, and knowingly going into an area you believe to be dangerous can be pretty damned stupid. I'm reminded of a person who knows Tigers to be enormous man-killing superpredators, yet sneaks into the zoo after-hours, climbs into the Tiger enclosure, and gets eaten. In sane countries and societies, that person would be grieved for, their family would be pitied...but duh! They climbed into a Tiger enclosure! To bad, so sad, sorry dude life's a bitch and so is a pissed-off 600lb stripey killing machine who's territory you've just invaded. Only in the 21st-Century West are we idiotic enough to entertain the notion that such a person's death is anyone's fault but their own.

How is it anybody's fault but -mine- if I choose to go into smoky bars and get lung cancer as a result? Hello people, we've had warnings on the damned cigarette packs for close to 50 years now. EVERYBODY knows that smoke is bad for you. It's one of those inescapable facts of modern life. If a person, fully cognizant of these facts, makes the informed decision to expose themself to what they have every reason to believe could be a toxic substance...they have no more right to bitch than does the moron who breaks into the Tiger pit, or the idiot who breaks into the home of a known drug-dealer, or the putz who decides to try robbing a pit-bull breeder.

There's a reason we all love the Darwin Awards, people, and it's because we all love watching evolution catch up to somebody who really and truly had it coming.

02-28-2010, 04:52 AM	#51 (permalink)
The_Dunedan Junkie	I don't grok this argument at all. The principle seems to be that Government edict (aka force) should be used to protect people from the consequences of knowingly making what could be unhealthy decisions; ie the decision to eat and drink in a place where people smoke. The argument seems to be that people are somehow -forced- to enter smoke-friendly businesses, forced to spend their money there, forced to inhale the smoke, and forced to come back. Duh: if you don't want to be in a smoky bar, just don't go into one. Find a non-smoking establishment and patonise them instead. If allowing smoking becomes unprofitable, guess what? The landlord will either ban smoking or go out of business, so the "problem" is peacefully solved! It is not the Govt's job to protect people from their own stupidity, and knowingly going into an area you believe to be dangerous can be pretty damned stupid. I'm reminded of a person who knows Tigers to be enormous man-killing superpredators, yet sneaks into the zoo after-hours, climbs into the Tiger enclosure, and gets eaten. In sane countries and societies, that person would be grieved for, their family would be pitied...but duh! They climbed into a Tiger enclosure! To bad, so sad, sorry dude life's a bitch and so is a pissed-off 600lb stripey killing machine who's territory you've just invaded. Only in the 21st-Century West are we idiotic enough to entertain the notion that such a person's death is anyone's fault but their own. How is it anybody's fault but -mine- if I choose to go into smoky bars and get lung cancer as a result? Hello people, we've had warnings on the damned cigarette packs for close to 50 years now. EVERYBODY knows that smoke is bad for you. It's one of those inescapable facts of modern life. If a person, fully cognizant of these facts, makes the informed decision to expose themself to what they have every reason to believe could be a toxic substance...they have no more right to bitch than does the moron who breaks into the Tiger pit, or the idiot who breaks into the home of a known drug-dealer, or the putz who decides to try robbing a pit-bull breeder. There's a reason we all love the Darwin Awards, people, and it's because we all love watching evolution catch up to somebody who really and truly had it coming.