In today’s world there are RULES for everything. I suppose it is not so much different in such cultures as ours, for example, where people outnumber the quantity of cows or sheep, however a recent “vote” or “ballot issue” has made the biggest splash in my mind as to the power of the government. NO SMOKING signs are up everywhere (or so it seems) telling us we are now being protected by our government (Big Brother, if you please) from second-hand smoke.
I am not a smoker but, like some I imagine, have appreciated and even enjoyed the smell of a good fragrance of pipe tobacco or the enhancing fragrance of a cigar or tobacco department in years past as a young man. I wonder, now, if I might have to get a special card that will allow me, or anyone to ever walk through such a shop or department in a store. Somehow, this new law reminds me a bit of the so-called law of “fireworks”. The way that one works is you can buy fireworks (at least in carefully selected levels of “dangerous” fireworks) but it is illegal to use or “set off” same. Oh, it is OK for a professional organization or company to put on such demonstrations due to safety regulations. All such are efforts of proponents of the efficacy of our government.
Again, I am not a smoker; however, if it were a smoker I cannot help but believe I would be correct in assuming myself an outcast, no less, because I might want to “take a smoke” or “light up a pipe” and enjoy whatever it is that thousands of Americans did for years without fear of being caught and tried for smoking (oh, is that next you say?). I am surely not the only one who has seen advertisements of years gone by when the Red Cross (of all organizations!) met the troop trains and actually passed out free cigarettes to thousands of soldiers and sailors.
We have been bombarded with statistics that prove smoking can be hazardous to our health. Funny, but I can also produce some statistics that prove a lot of things – the main thing to keep in mind is who is paying for the statistics. Yes, I know there have been some pretty hard cases made by certain daring individuals who have proven that tobacco companies have intentionally added nicotine to tobacco to make smoking (more) addictive. I will let that stand for what it is worth and surely there apparently is some truth to those charges. But one fact consistently still screams at me: “Drunken driving kills by the thousands.” Who is keeping or watching over such statistics -- certainly not our government.
One can only wonder what kind of money laundering or deals under the table are going on to keep certain facts or statistics unknown by the populace about whatever “evil” is being named as the scourge of our society. The days of prohibition are shown on many history programs as the revenuers used axes busting one still after another “back in the hills”. I dare say that if you could arrange to talk with five or six-dozen people who lived in those days; many made beer in the family bathtub. The biggest problem with such “producers of hooch” is the government was not getting their hands on any of the profits. Yes, taxes leveled at the producer and paid for by the consumer are income for the government. Any large commodity like gasoline, oil products, distilleries, breweries and tobacco provide great enhancements to our nation’s income. Or haven’t you noticed the double digit figures that add as much as one fifth of the price of gasoline you pump into your car’s fuel tank?
And, if you don’t mind my questioning one more item, why is it that the cheapest of petroleum products (fuel oil or diesel fuel) is priced higher than the highly refined fuel. What used to be called “coal oil” or “kerosene” was the cheapest thing going and you used it to clean up machinery or in kitchen stoves before “natural gas” became available countrywide. Of course those shoppers who find store shelves or aisles changed periodically recognize this kind of divisiveness as an attempt to sell more products. Perhaps our big brother and the high rollers in the petroleum cartels have combined their efforts to capitalize on car buyers who could care less for how much it costs to run the big luxury vehicles or sport-trucks. Price gouging has become an accepted means to an end; meanwhile, those who are affected by higher petroleum prices struggle to make ends meet.
Again, I am not a smoker but I cannot help but feel someone is being pushed around and I do not appreciate it. Why just pick on smokers? What about drunken drivers? The following story is a slam-dunk on the “smart government officials” who “know what is best” and especially what kind of “authority” they claim:
A cocky Department of Agriculture representative stopped at a farm and
talked with the old farmer.
"I need to inspect your farm."
The old farmer said, "OK, but don't go in that field."
The Agriculture representative said in a wise tone, "I have the authority of the U.S. Government. See this card, I am
allowed to go wherever I wish on agricultural land."
So the old farmer went about his chores. Later, he heard loud screams and saw the Department of Agriculture rep running for the fence. Close behind was the farmer's prize bull, madder than a nest of hornets, and gaining at every step. The Old farmer called out, "Show him your card!"
Incidentally, since the smoking ban, cigarette disposal containers are missing at some store entrances and now the butts are instead back on the walks and parking lots -- so much for improvements through legislation.
THE WORDWRIGHT
