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Getting there...

I just heard on the news that New York city has a proposed ban on smoking on beaches (among other places).

I hope it goes into effect.  I think it’s only a matter of time until smoking in all public places is banned.  It’s the only logical and just solution to this barbaric problem.

The anti-ban people are trying to frame this as a personal rights issue.  And it is a personal rights issue.  But not the way they’re suggesting.  This is clearly an issue where your freedom to swing your fist ends at my nose.

You have the right to intentionally give yourself cancer, but I have the right to breathe air that isn’t infected with your cancer, and no rational person would suggest that the former is more important than the latter.  Therefore if you are infringing upon my right to breathe cancer-free air, then you are no longer within the bounds of your personal rights.

Posted by Anthony on Sep 23, 2003 | 6 replies
Filed under: General

Comments:

01. Sep 24, 2003 at 10:58am by Konstantin:

Unfortunately this policy would create a precedent to many other policies effectively limiting the personal freedoms.  If you take this breathing healthy air issue a little further, then you have to ban driving in front of your house since that also incurs cancer (if in great amounts).  Also, flying over your head, since it disturbs your peace and pouring manure on the fields since it stinks!

Bro, that in itself is a huge scope of problems.  Open air is a public domain, if people can’t smoke outside where there is always a potential of someone secondhand smoking (say if you’re on your porch and the neighbor is smoking on his).  I mean, smoking is horrible in itself, but you don’t wanna go down the line of banning - before you know it you forfeit your all your freedoms.

02. Sep 24, 2003 at 11:21am by Anthony:

> If you take this breathing healthy air issue a little further, then you
> have to ban driving in front of your house since that also incurs cancer
> (if in great amounts).  Also, flying over your head, since it disturbs your
> peace and pouring manure on the fields since it stinks!

That’s a textbook example of the slippery-slope fallacy; it’s logically invalid.  P does not imply Q.

> I mean, smoking is horrible in itself, but you don’t wanna go
> down the line of banning - before you know it you forfeit your
> all your freedoms.

That’s the same thing restated more emotionally  : )

> (say if you’re on your porch and the neighbor is smoking
> on his).

Good example -- I hate when they do that!

> Open air is a public domain, if people can’t smoke outside
> where there is always a potential of someone secondhand
> smoking

People can’t be excessively loud or disruptive in public, people can’t have have sex in public, people can’t urinate or defecate in public.  Personal rights are not absolute; they are limited by the amount to which they infringe upon the personal rights of the people around them.  And exposure to cigarette smoke is much worse than exposure to any of the aforementioned things, because it is known to cause lethal diseases.

03. Sep 24, 2003 at 11:56am by Patrick Copland:

A very emotionally charged subject.  I like every smoker I know.  I dislike every anti-smoking group I have ever seen (have you seen the brats in the "infect-truth" commecials?).  California keeps doubling the cigarette tax every other year to try to fund their outrageous social programs and special interest payoffs.

04. Sep 27, 2003 at 08:17pm by kelsey:

do you want America to become more communist than it is already becoming [because of liberals]...?  Because that’s the liberal point of view you’re taking, Anthony.

regards!

05. Sep 28, 2003 at 02:01am by Steve, for real:

dude.  How can you take "logic" and call it something so unrelated as "communism"?  Because you want to pretend you don’t realize the truth?  Smoking is NOT good for the smoker(s), or anyone around them, in any way, and you know it.  Period.  As a matter of fact, it’s decidedly bad for all those involved, and you know that also.  Why should anyone have the right to infect the air that we all have to breathe?  That clearly makes absolutely no sense, and if you stopped and thought about it in an objective manner for half a moment, you would realize that as well.  Like Anthony said, there are a lot of things you can’t do in public, because the public consists of other people.  Stop being so selfish and stop pretending you don’t think these are obvious facts, all of you.

06. Oct 4, 2003 at 04:26pm by kelsey:

for some reason, what you said made me laugh

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