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Who's the Real Villain? By Simon Patkin Anti-Smoking Proposals Are An Attack on the Mind The recent proposals to ban smoking in the workplace including restaurants and pubs might seem reasonable to many people. After all, anti-smokers claim that a majority of people wants a smoke free place to eat and work. They claim, just as one should not get food poisoning of the stomach, neither should someone get poisoning of the lungs, heart and other internal organs through alleged second hand smoke. Some have argued for a gold standard to push the anti-smoking line into the home so that children and maids can enjoy better health. Indeed I prefer to sit in non-smoking areas myself. Of course, why stop there? In the 1994 movie Demolition Man, the villain Dr. Raymond Cocteau not only banned nicotine but also fats, caffeine, sugar, meat, salt, alcohol, contact sports, chocolate and even spicy food Each of these represented a potential threat to the human body. Dr. Cocteau pushed the gold standard still further and required couples to be licensed before they could have children. Virtual sex replaced actual sex because the exchange of body fluids could lead to the transmission of disease. Those that did not agree with his rules or wanted to think for themselves were forced underground to become the scraps of society. But Dr. Cocteau was still not contented and the scraps bothered his ideal world. Ultimately he went mad and preached terror and intimidation as the way to create a submissive society protected from itself. To reach this next level of hell he unleashed the most viscous convict he could to assassinate the leader of the scraps and keep the citizens in line. Dr. Cocteau’s big mistake was that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stop people from thinking for themselves. As humans we have each have a separate mind and can exercise choice as to what we do. No totalitarian regime can ever eliminate this function entirely. Indeed reason is our means of survival. Without the ability to think, we would quickly starve, freeze or be eaten by wild animals because we would have no way to figure out how to build shelter, fire and weapons to properly protect ourselves. It is this means of survival that the Dr. Cocteau’s of this world attack. Like an overbearing grandmother, they attempt to limit rational thought, human choice and personal responsibility. These concepts mean that a person has to choose his own lifestyle with the decision to smoke, drink, and eat sugar or chocolate based on his own values and choices. Of course, this does not mean that taxpayers should pay for that person’s mistakes either – that is something they alone should take responsibility for. This includes their decision to work in a smoke-free office or eat in an Italian, Vegetarian, smoking or non-smoking restaurant. In child abuse cases, there must be a demonstrable threat to the child before action is taken, the same with smoking. If authorities have reasonable grounds to suspect definite harm from smoking to a particular child, then action could be taken to protect the child, but ultimately the onus of proof is on the accuser. Further, such things as fire and food safety in restaurants could be handled through licensing by associations rather than government. Summing up, given that proponents of anti-smoking proposals always say that so many people want non-smoking restaurants and bars – why don’t they open them up themselves? The free markets in time will cater to the needs of non-smokers. Dublin Jack is the first to try and I wish them every success. However anti-smokers should realize that restaurants are not an automatic part of nature and require great thought and hard work. Only by thinking rationally are restaurant owners able to run a successful long-range business. With ever increasing rules and regulations, government makes independent thought harder. The use of rationality both with regard to property and free speech should be protected from the real Dr. Cocteau’s of this world. This is the real gold standard we should work to.
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