why do people smoke? still?
Fri Aug 19 12:54:09 EDT 2016
Today's bee in my bonnet....
We look at people who are going to vote for "the other", and ask "How can they be so stupid?" Well, stupid is still alive and well, as evidenced by smoking and other forms of tobacco use.
Why do people smoke? "Everyone" knows:Tobacco is addictive.
Tobacco is expensive.
Tobacco is carcinogenic.
Tobacco smoke stinks.
Ashtrays are filthy; spittoons are repulsive.
If you don't know that tobacco is carcinogenic, you are (at best) incredibly ignorant.
No one liked that first cigarette. Why would anyone persist to develop a tolerance for something that is unpleasant, expensive, and (eventually) debilitating?
Smoking Is Stupid.
If you start because of peer pressure, you have stupid peers. (And you must be stupid too, for having stupid peers.)
The smoke is harmful to the people around the smoker. Who has the right to damage other people's health? Cancer and emphysema are unpleasant ways to die.
Smoking while driving raises accident rates - another harm to the people around the smoker - passengers, pedestrians, occupants of other vehicles. Smokers are also more likely to have household fires.
All the land that is growing tobacco could be growing food instead.
So why does anyone with a lick of intelligence start smoking? (Stupid prevails.)
[This entry was originally posted as https://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/830189.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]
Today's bee in my bonnet....
We look at people who are going to vote for "the other", and ask "How can they be so stupid?" Well, stupid is still alive and well, as evidenced by smoking and other forms of tobacco use.
Why do people smoke? "Everyone" knows:Tobacco is addictive.
Tobacco is expensive.
Tobacco is carcinogenic.
Tobacco smoke stinks.
Ashtrays are filthy; spittoons are repulsive.
If you don't know that tobacco is carcinogenic, you are (at best) incredibly ignorant.
No one liked that first cigarette. Why would anyone persist to develop a tolerance for something that is unpleasant, expensive, and (eventually) debilitating?
Smoking Is Stupid.
If you start because of peer pressure, you have stupid peers. (And you must be stupid too, for having stupid peers.)
The smoke is harmful to the people around the smoker. Who has the right to damage other people's health? Cancer and emphysema are unpleasant ways to die.
Smoking while driving raises accident rates - another harm to the people around the smoker - passengers, pedestrians, occupants of other vehicles. Smokers are also more likely to have household fires.
All the land that is growing tobacco could be growing food instead.
So why does anyone with a lick of intelligence start smoking? (Stupid prevails.)
[This entry was originally posted as https://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/830189.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]