Banning Smoking Bans Freedom
In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, they have passed a smoking ban for all public places and privately owned businesses. Here the government is going beyond its purpose by telling business owners how to run their business. If that seems okay to you, then you are NOT someone who values your freedom.
I would also like to let everyone know that I am NOT a smoker. I just value people’s right to choose. If you want to smoke and increase your risk of lung cancer, that is fine by me. Also, if you are a business owner and would like to let people smoke on your property, that is fine too, because you have the right to do whatever you want, as long as you don’t violate the rights of others.
This brings me to another point. People say that smoking doesn’t just hurt the people smoking; the secondhand smoke hurts the people around them. Well, that may be true, but there is simple solution to this problem. Don’t hang around people that smoke and don’t go to bars and restaurants that allow it. NO ONE is forcing you to smoke and breathe smoky air. I’m a non-smoker and I can’t remember the last time that I was bothered by a smoker. I guess that’s because I’ve trained myself to avoid it.
If everyone would just look around, they would see that capitalism (the free-market) was starting to take care of the situation for us. The businesses (bars and pubs) in the area were starting to offer smoke-free nights and rooms that were smoke-free. So if you didn’t want to be around secondhand smoke, you had a choice. But I guess that wasn’t enough for the freedom haters, so they lobbied the local government to pass this ban.
So what you smoke-free nuts should have done was, before crying to the government, try doing something yourself. Ask your favorite bar and restaurant to try having a smoke-free night. If you get enough people behind you, no rational businessman will say no.
May 7th, 2007 at 11:08 pm
This reminds me of the other day when I was watching TV and saw something that bothered me. I may not have liked what I saw, but I realize that other people might, and it’s not my right to make those choices for other people. So what did I do? I changed the channel. Similarly, if you don’t like restaurants that have smoking sections, don’t go there! If you’re that obsessed with your health, you probably shouldn’t be eating out much anyway. Great post, Mosley!