Definition of Irony, Part 342
Isn't it ironic that, just as Cuba is on the verge of freedom after a half century of brutal Communist dictatorship, it has become illegal virtually everywhere in the United States to smoke cigars in public?
I'm just asking.
2 comments:
It is not ironic. Smoking stinks.
People who smoke often don't realize how bad they smell to those who are not addicted to nicotine.
Perhaps if you consider how repugnant you might find someone who smeared themselves with feces and then elected to dine next to you.
As a Libertarian, you should argue that anyone who wants to smear themselves with feces is free to do so. However, just like all freedoms, your right to exercise your freedoms only goes so far as to the extent that such an exercise does not adversely impact others.
To someone who doesn't smoke, having a smoker light a cigar/cigarette nearby, has a similar impact; as if that smoker had crapped in his hand and began smearing the feces all over his/her face.
Refraining from smoking in common use areas, is a demonstration of good manners. When citizens can't exercise good manners on their own, communities rightfully should impose rules that help maintain the peace and provide the best environment possible for all of the citizens.
In California, the smoking ban proved universally popular and to the surprise of bar owners, their establishments saw a net increase in patronage after the ban was enacted. Thousands of customers who had been staying away because of the stench of cigarette smoke, began bringing friends and family members along to dine out in the newly created smoke-free establishments. Restaurant smoking bans have proved to be good for business, good for tax revenue and good for the employees who no longer have to clean-up after the smokes, or work in smoke filled rooms.
Given that this is the Twenty-First Century and there is no benefit to the addiction to tobacco, it is tragic that so many people still ingest this poison into their systems. It just shows how powerful the addictive properties of nicotine are; it completely overwhelms the logical abilities of most brains.
"But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary . . . " --Madison, Fed. 51. Libertarians: explain why Madison was wrong and we are all angels who can do without governing. Either that or put out your cancer-inducing, room-stenching cigars.
Which is my way of fondly tweaking an old friend whose weblog I can finally read but whose e-mail I have lost.-Jock Yellott, jockyellott@gmail.com
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