More evidence of the death of common sense..
I am utterly confused why a perfectly legal activity is banned on private property:
http://www.heraldonline.com/front/story/1880203.html
This is only an example of the same thing all across the country, and all across the world. A country where just a scant 22 years ago or so you could smoke in a friggin' grocery store and Wal-Mart had ashtrays inside. A world where one used to be able to smoke in a hospital, for Pete's sake. I'm not advocating a return to those days, nor do I want anyone to be exposed to second-hand smoke without their consent, but the anti-smoking hysteria has gotten nothing less than absurd.
The comments of Buddy Moltz (now there's an erudite-sounding name if I ever heard one), seem to sum up the opinion of people who institute these bans:
"is it your choice to speed 80 miles an hour on a 65-mile-an-hour road? To light a fire in a theater? There are a lot of restrictions people have in society. This is one of them."
It doesn't seem to dawn on these people that an establishment - particularly a private club - is PRIVATE PROPERTY. A '65 mile-per-hour' road is public property by definition, since it has a posted speed limit in the first place. If you build a private road on your own property you and your guests can drive whatever speed you like. I could build a racetrack on my property if I want. As long as potential patrons are made aware at the outset that it is a smoking establishment, what the hell is the problem? If you don't smoke or don't want to be exposed to smoke, don't fucking go there. What is so hard about this? You put up a big goddamn sign that says THIS IS A SMOKING ESTABLISHMENT and if private clearly spell out in whatever membership paperwork is involved that smoking goes on in there.
The only other 'reasoning' I see about this is 'smoking is bad for you', 'smoking is nasty', 'smokers stink', etc. What the hell does this have to do with anything? Nobody knows the dangers of smoking better than a smoker. Nobody is being forced to do anything. People behave as if children are being raped inside or something.
Whether you smoke or not or give a shit one way or the other about it, do you really want government that can tell you what perfectly legal activity can or cannot be done on your own damn property? What freedoms are next, and where is the line drawn? At your yard, your front door, or in your own bedroom? Increasingly it seems that in short order there will be no line at all. The government will tell you precisely what you can do and where you can do it, whether it affects anyone else or not.
When governmental entities make no distinction between public and private property, put no stock in personal choice or reponsibility, and dictates what a consenting adult can do and can't do because 'they know what's best for us'; we are in a bad way indeed. That this shit can even happen is just more proof that we have become sheep.
Everybody seems to tout the 'fall of Communism' but the fact is it is stronger than ever.
http://www.heraldonline.com/front/story/1880203.html
This is only an example of the same thing all across the country, and all across the world. A country where just a scant 22 years ago or so you could smoke in a friggin' grocery store and Wal-Mart had ashtrays inside. A world where one used to be able to smoke in a hospital, for Pete's sake. I'm not advocating a return to those days, nor do I want anyone to be exposed to second-hand smoke without their consent, but the anti-smoking hysteria has gotten nothing less than absurd.
The comments of Buddy Moltz (now there's an erudite-sounding name if I ever heard one), seem to sum up the opinion of people who institute these bans:
"is it your choice to speed 80 miles an hour on a 65-mile-an-hour road? To light a fire in a theater? There are a lot of restrictions people have in society. This is one of them."
It doesn't seem to dawn on these people that an establishment - particularly a private club - is PRIVATE PROPERTY. A '65 mile-per-hour' road is public property by definition, since it has a posted speed limit in the first place. If you build a private road on your own property you and your guests can drive whatever speed you like. I could build a racetrack on my property if I want. As long as potential patrons are made aware at the outset that it is a smoking establishment, what the hell is the problem? If you don't smoke or don't want to be exposed to smoke, don't fucking go there. What is so hard about this? You put up a big goddamn sign that says THIS IS A SMOKING ESTABLISHMENT and if private clearly spell out in whatever membership paperwork is involved that smoking goes on in there.
The only other 'reasoning' I see about this is 'smoking is bad for you', 'smoking is nasty', 'smokers stink', etc. What the hell does this have to do with anything? Nobody knows the dangers of smoking better than a smoker. Nobody is being forced to do anything. People behave as if children are being raped inside or something.
Whether you smoke or not or give a shit one way or the other about it, do you really want government that can tell you what perfectly legal activity can or cannot be done on your own damn property? What freedoms are next, and where is the line drawn? At your yard, your front door, or in your own bedroom? Increasingly it seems that in short order there will be no line at all. The government will tell you precisely what you can do and where you can do it, whether it affects anyone else or not.
When governmental entities make no distinction between public and private property, put no stock in personal choice or reponsibility, and dictates what a consenting adult can do and can't do because 'they know what's best for us'; we are in a bad way indeed. That this shit can even happen is just more proof that we have become sheep.
Everybody seems to tout the 'fall of Communism' but the fact is it is stronger than ever.
posted by Soulend at 3:38 PM
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