What is This Smoke you Speak Of?

Smoking? Yeah, it's bad. I think everyone knows that. But, in a way computer monitors are bad for you and your looking at one right now. No one seems to have a problem with a lot of things that are clinically proven to be harmful for you. Like outside. Have you seen CO2 levels lately?

Here, once again we have a case of the government stepping in pointing fingers and putting red crossing through stuff. That would be a problem if this wasn't supposed to be a 'democracy'. Totalitarianism: okay, communism: okay, fascism: okay, even in Socialism: okay. But now we come upon democracy and the hand goes to the head and starts scratching, impulsive on the sudden itch that ensued from brain overload.

In recent years, or should I say in the post 9/11 United States, the government has been taking various measures to protect us from the evil unknown. That's would be all good if it wasn't all just falsified political garble. You want to protect 'US' from 'them'? listen to our phone calls. You want to stop terrorism? bomb the hell out of a Islamic nation; that'll do the trick. Save 'US' from 'US'. Mmm... Punish 'US'. Right!

While the terror alert was wasn't that high the government decided that there was nothing else to do but to pass new legislation; not unheard of. Today's target: Smoking. Now let's see...smoking's bad right? Let's ban it! Why not. It would help solve the moral dilemma in the country. So now what do they do? The say "Hey restaurant owners. We know you built this little foundation here from the ground up, but um, were just gonna have to tell you that you can't have your customers smoke in here anymore." And before there is any opposition, law is passed. Restaurant owners were already creating smoking and non-smoking sections of their establishment long before the long arm of the law got hold of them. Not that the sections were effective in isolating smoke, but at least they made an attempt to satisfy everyone. Not good enough for the Nanny.

By the government imposing the sanction, they have taken the owners right to choose the way the wish to run their establishment by forcing them to do things in the way that they deem is right. It's almost as if the government says that parents can't use air fresheners in their house if they have children in the home who are not air freshener users. In this ideology it is the same thing. Air freshener are bad for the air: scientific fact. But how lame would the Super Nanny seem if it went after air fresheners, something probably about 5 people in the country care about.

Does this all matter to the political puppets in white house, cream colored house and occasionally the brick red house? No they already have their laws in place. They're busy moving on to the next, which is most likely pet dander in airports or something. Don't worry people: what rises must fall, and we're already halfway down to the crash and burn part. There's nothing you can do about it, the politicians will continue to work for the most powerful nation of the world made up of complex system of politics, money and lies:

America: The Nanny State

Sources:

Doug Hagin