we have been hijacked. we will all be "free" at the expense of our freedom.
our right to walk around and not smell other people smoking has just become more dear than our right to smoke. our prerogative to continue smoking has been judged by the authorities as a less sovereign than their right to spend our money to help us quit.
let us shy away from all but the most necessary and justifiable encroachments on other people's freedom. we have a nearly unprecedented opportunity to perpetuate and expand our freedoms. let's not squander it on our pithy ideas of what's best for everyone. the greater good will never exist as it is determined by man.
to those who comment: i won't delete, but will loath reading poorly worded discourses on how smoking is bad for you. context is the chief qualifier for truth. if you go back and read a little more carefully, you'll see that this article isn't about smoking.
"we will all be 'free' at the expense of our freedom."
ReplyDeleteWell said.
I like what yo had to say thanks for putting it so clearly :>)
ReplyDelete@andrew well, thanks.
ReplyDelete@anonymous: [smiles] you're welcome. thanks for reading.
While I do agree with you about people controlling our freedom. I don't agree with you about A FACILITY deciding that the best, most freeing, thing is to ban smoking. Freedoms go both ways, do I have the right not to smell cigarette smoke? While it may not be the most "fair" move it is certainly a logical one with, in my opinion, just as many pro's as con's...
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately my opinion on this matter is not as objective or sympathetic as it should be, I gave up smoking years ago and never want to go back. :)
@micah: you raise a valid objection. i might counter that its your right to smoke that might logically outweigh your right to avoid other people while they smoke. also, that institution is public, and therefore represents all of us.
ReplyDelete@Andrew: Right there with you: we will all be "free" at the expense of our freedom. (awesome!)
ReplyDelete@Micah: I'm not familiar with U of O. But if it accepts government funding, then it's funded by tax dollars (ergo, "us"). That cedes the choice to marginalize any groups who are funding them. If they are privately held, then they should definitely have the choice to pick and choose what rules govern their property.
@joel: Awesome post! We've even felt the wave of this socially acceptable form of racism in Austin, Texas. Last October I took it upon myself to start gathering artists from around the world and form an active movement FOR smoking. As of today, the group I started on deviantART (#The-Art-of-Smoking) has 574 members and 744 watchers. Also, the site I launched to gather artists outside of deviantART (Burn as One dot Org) represents well over a thousand artists from around the world. I think community will be the key in bringing some sanity to this wave of injustice.