We have exactly as many taboos now as the Pilgrims —we just took all the dictates on sexual propriety and dropped them on food and smoking.
But there is still “taboo conservation” —no actual change.
You are right. Today we have no taboos remaining on sexual behavior. The culture celebrates any number of partners, any gender of partners.
But smoke a cigarette, OMG, that person is evil, tobacco companies are evil, yadda, yadda, yadda.
How do the liberals reconcile attitudes on smoking cigarettes vs. smoking marijuana? If smoking is bad, then smoking anything should be bad, right? Yet the liberals, who push for legal marijuana, and feel that smoking marijuana is harmless, are also the ones who are pushing ideas such as banning or limiting cigarettes.