<blockquote>"There are not many of us smokers left. You have pushed us out."</blockquote
You are not your tobacco habit. You're you. Whether you're ready to hear it or not, welcome to a healthier world.
<blockquote>"[F]eel free to point a finger about the benefits on health, while the fast food drive through lanes and liquer store lines remain the same. "</blockquote>
Guess what -- as a non-drinker and non-fast food consumer, I wouldn't care how heavily they taxed Wild Turkey or Big Macs either.
Here's the deal: if human beings are generally too perverse and self-destructive to exercise a common-sense, healthy self-prohibition, then, as we've seen, legal prohibition won't work very well either. The next best thing -- a poor second, but what else is there? -- is to mitigate the destructive social effects of self-destructive habits by taxing those habits and applying the revenues to that mitigation -- and yes, to filling in the gaps in other people's children's health care until the live-free types in our country come around to the the idea of single-payer universal coverage.
The upside is that it's a voluntary tax -- as voluntary, that is, as your continued consumption of tobacco, junk food and booze.
They are voluntary, aren't they? You could quit, couldn't you?
Hi Matt,
Two points:
1) The quote, whilst attributed to you, does not purport to have been posted by you. Under the quote it clearly indicates that it was "submitted by Anonymous". So I doubt that readers will think that it was submitted by you.
2) You wrote that the quote was one you "gave unrelated to the New York Times article". It is not quite clear whether you mean that you made this statement in some other context or not. If so, then when was it made? Or did you mean that you sent this comment to Ray Hernandez and David Kocieniewski when they were preparing their story not after it was published?
I hope some of the money will go toward family's that call me when they and thier children need a frew thousand because they are losing thier home.(all family's non smokers). Sorry guys i have to save somwhere to buy my ciarettes.
I'm a non smoker myself and work in a non smoking hotel in Prague. However, I don't think its right to tell smokers not to smoke. Everyone has that freedom of choice and its their life, their health. Although, it's also my right and my health not to smoke so I do get annoyed when someone lights up to me in a pub or restaurant without any consideration - and even worse, flick ash on me! Other than that, I'm fine. However, it is disturbing to note that high profile health groups have links with tobacco companies - it brings the paranoia that smoke-related sicknesses are here to stay rather than, tobacco companies finding a way to make smoking cancer free.
Pages