I have a complimentary theory…
Posted on 07/24/2023 8:01:34 PM PDT by DoodleBob
Today I became nostalgic for a smell. You wake up on top of the covers in your underwear, and through the gloaming of your bedroom, through the smug pint of water, through the angst and exhaustion and joy and regret that comes from five hours in a nightclub and two hours on the wrong bus home, there is some bitter relief in the smell of smoke on your hair. That smell! Like barbecued teenagers and pepper and beer, almost lovely, pleasantly vile, a kind of lovebite memory, bruised on the throat in passion. That smell. It all seems quite mad now, the idea that people smoked, not just inside, but underground, in windowless rooms. Though I suppose so much seems mad to me about young fun still: come out, drink until you’re sick, it’ll be a laugh! …
When I read the news that smoking was coming back, I thought: that smell. Then I thought: of course. The wellness era is truly at its end, celery water pooling under the door, hot yoga cooled down to a single tepid pilate. In a recent exchange with another artist, David Hockney wrote, “I too am BORED with WELLNESS. The concept seems ridiculous and too bossy for me, I’m still smoking, and ENJOYING it ENORMOUSLY.” His cigarette set off a fire alarm at the launch of his latest exhibition…
…
But the problem with our major shift away from smoking was, while they could persuasively prove that it killed people, they were unable to convince anyone that cigarettes were not cool. This fact, I’m afraid, has come back to bite us.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
It seemed to me that the democrats latched on to the anti-tobacco wagon about the time that the South’s political money was shifting to the GOP and of course, there was that massive shift of billions to the trial lawyers in that giant tobacco settlement which gave the top democrat donor group billions to play with.
At what I thought was a time (1980s/1990s?)when GOP and Democrat lines were set in stone on the national tobacco battle, I was shocked to learn that Willie Brown (California, Kamala Harris) was the top recipient of tobacco money.
That and visible body ink.
I don't know.
I remember back when businesses first started banning smoking on their own, and thinking even back then that freedom was taking a big hit. Back then one could smoke even in hospitals, but then the ban came, but most people ignored it or snuck ciggs by going to,the restroom, or stairwells. The hospital personnel knew patients were doing it, and said nothing because they understood that many folks were on their last leg and needed the stress relief.
BUT then Karen’s started popping up everywhere, and slowly but surely folks lost their freedom. The Karen’s rejoiced, but countless people suffered as a result- having to go cold turkey in their ,ast days or months, depending on their conditions etc.
I despise the Karen’s for it. The suffering they caused to those who needed the comfort the most is beyond the pale.
[[Guess what else is an externality? Air pollution, specifically exhaust from motor vehicles. The same folks who complain about the smell of smoke are likely driving cars with an internal combustion engine]]
Yep- good point. And you watch- the electric vehicle only people will use it as an ax to bludgeon society into submission, claiming that people are dying from exhaust, therefore it should be banned.
I don’t smoke anymore either, but I have a theory that the massive increase in anger in society might be linked to forcing people to go without ciggs for extended periods of time. I would sit in a resteraunt with designated areas for smoking, and would sit with my fr83nds who did smoke, and not be bothered by it. If my breathing got too difficult, I would change to non smoking areas-
[[. It’s all about total control of people from the top down...nothing more]]
Yep! They get off on forcing people to be miserable.
I guess I could always sit next to a smoker and maybe acquire second-hand coolness.
I think cigarettes and pot stink, but also occasionally indulge in a cigar - maybe 3 times a year, and a pipe packed with sweet Cavendish blend about the same number of times in the autumn and holiday season.
Paired with bourbon for the former, vintage porto with the later.
The girlfriend loves the smell of the pipe.
But you can accommodate both, and not ostracize one group in favor of the other. Most resteraunts had smoking and non sm9king sections. But nope, that wasn’t good enough- the non smokers wanted total control. Now folks arent even allowed to smoke in wide open areas like beaches and parks, where again, there could be segregated areas to acco odate both parties. But again, nope, the anti smokers demand total compliance to their dislike of ciggs. You speak,of the one side wanting their rights, and condemn them for it, but the fsct is that the anti side is the one taking their rights away, while asserting their desires over society.
The mandated separate sections in businesses was working. There was no need of banning it everywhere in public. As doodle said, we are all “forced to breathe in exhaust from v3hicles and businesses” but so far noone is demanding a stop to all that.
Also, there were plenty of resteraunts and businesses that banned smoking on their own, which is fine, and it gave non smokers plenty of choices, and smokers plenty of choices where to eat, shop etc. There was room for everyone. Now there isn’t.
This is a property rights issue.
If you’re breathing second hand smoke in a restaurant, and don’t like it, talk to the owner. He/she is permitting that patron to light up on his/her property.
At the same time, if the owner bans cigarette smoking, that the owner’s right, too. If Smokestack Bob rants because he wants to fire up, he can complain to the owner.
With that framework, smoke-haters can solicit smoke-free establishments. Smoke-junkies can solicit smoking permitted places. Everyone walks away happy.
I get your point, and you’re right: Bob et al can’t have it both ways. I also agree that some folks commingle liberty with incivility. If I was a smoker at a smoking permitted diner, and I had a woman in the booth behind me with children, I’d put away my Camels.
The quest for government to settle these disputes (which, knowing you, isn’t your desire necessarily) is what underpins the erosion of so much that has been lost of our rights.
I’m willing to change my smoke-infused clothes before bed to stop the left’s rampage through society.
Ya ok Karen... Just get in your car and drive away pumping all the CO2 You can’t smell into the air!! You people crack me up. Just pack your ass crack with baby powder do you don’t chaff!!
so*
““The other scenario is to eat healthy, exercise and think pure thoughts.”
And then croak like everyone else.”
Exactly.
Denying the elderly the right to smoke in apartments and assisted living and nursing homes is particularly cruel.
However the most dangerous smoking bans are in prison. It is a really bad idea to remove a stress reliever from convicts.
I only smoke cigars.
Before I retired in the old days when I commuted to an office about 5% of the work-force would head outside for smoke breaks, including the “big boss” of the office.
We got an incredible amount of real work done during those breaks—it turns out the anti-smoking Karens were often the “negative nellies” in meetings as well.
Smoking was a signal of independent thinkers who wanted to evaluate the risk/reward of smoking for themselves.
The most ridiculous part of the anti-smoking campaign was treating one cigarette a day smokers the same as two pack a day chain smokers. The negative health impact of smoking is obviously much worse for the chain smokers. Pretending otherwise is where the control freaks show their true colors.
“At my age if I don’t drink, don’t smoke, and eat certain foods, what can I look forward to? From this point on, if I take excellent care of myself, I’ll get very sick and die.” - Rodney Dangerfield
I agree. Freedom and choice should take precedence here. The obesity issue is unhealthy as well, but we seemingly celebrate obesity - look at that Black fat woman singer.
I have a complimentary theory…
Man, that’s tough. Hope all else is well. Cheers!
This makes about as much sense as the pro-gambling, pro-drug legalization crowd. There's a conflation of vice, regulation of vice, and the merits of engaging in vice that denies what this stuff does to your fellow American. I also used to erroneously think that a libertarian paradise full of vice was "freedom", until the reality became undeniable.
The reason so many people were addicted to cigarettes in the first place is Big Government. Tobacco was subsidized for many decades via New Deal programs, including and up to the time that people knew smoking killed.
The cigarette companies knew for decades before they were forced to acknowledge it that nicotine was an extremely addictive drug, and they continued to lie about it into the 1990s. Having a highly addictive drug that was subsidized by taxpayers pushed on young people to create lifelong smokers while the hospitals filled up with emphysema and lung cancer cases and cash was funneled to politicians to keep the con going isn't "freedom" in any sense of the word. The tobacco companies genetically altered the tobacco to be more addictive, then lied about it to Congress. When people tried to blow the whistle, they threatened them and sent Clinton-circle private detectives to dig up dirt on them. It was pure evil.
I can't fathom how you associate corrupt government-backed corporations marketing and selling deadly poison to young people and your fellow Americans with a free society. The only people I see smoking nowadays are hipsters in coffee shops with neck beards, promiscuous women, protesting leftists, and homeless people.
The conservatives I know and follow have maintained or rediscovered their commitment to health by exercise and consuming less corporate poison. I don't desire to see anyone smoking any more than I want to see people shooting up heroin on the street and hookers on every corner while poor people waste their paychecks on lottery tickets. Some may think cigarette butts in the street, used condoms in your yard from ubiquitous legal prostitution, the smell of weed smoke, and slot machines in convenience stores are freedom, but please keep that crap out of my community.
The perpetuation of vice isn't "freedom".
A fat, sick, broke, and debt-ridden populace smoking cigarettes, drinking plastic bottle vodka, and buying weekly or daily lottery tickets is a gift to the authoritarians. You can't fight for freedom when you're busy perpetuating your own addictions, addictions that are themselves pushed on a populace by the Deep State.
It also might help to ask yourself why a pro-Deep State, leftist rag like The Guardian is pushing this. I'll give you hint Jack, so pay attention; it ain't because they value your "freedom".
[[ If I was a smoker at a smoking permitted diner, and I had a woman in the booth behind me with children, I’d put away my Camels]]
It used to be that folks would consider others, for the most part (though there were always a few that wouldnt) but nowadays, a lot of folks are just downright nasty, angry and combative, and would erupt if asked to not smoke around kids or pregnant women or whatever. But on the flip side, there are now a lot of Karens that will go out of their way to raise a huge stink if they so much as get a whiff of smoke, or see someone smoking a good distance off.
It’s just amazing to me that we couldn’t accommodate both sides and have made monsters out of smokers.
I’m glad to see young people take up smoking again. It’s cool, enjoyable and vaping is for pussies. Nothing hotter than a hot babe with a cigarette! I loved even more the girls who smoked when I was young. They were the most fun.
Or they just have an ability to say screw it. I don't smoke, but in general , I like people who do.
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