[NorthMountain]

"The government controls every aspect of our lives! How did we get here?"

People who do not police themselves will BE policed. People who exercise no self control will BE controlled. And they won't like it.

Collectively, smokers were boors; aggressively offensive to any and all, caring about only themselves. Comments like #3 and are typical ... Now we have the anti-smoking nazis, the ant-fat nazis, the anti-alcohol nazis, and a whole hairy horde of others. We have them, at least in part, because a couple of generations of cigarette smokers treated the world like their own personal ash-tray.

Sad, but thoroughly predictable.

[ClearCase_guy]

In the same way, one of our big problems is rich people who have too much money. Everyone knows rich people should be giving away most of their money to poor people and to recent immigrants! But, as you say, people who do not give away their money, will have their money TAKEN away. And they won't like it.

Collectively, rich people are boors, aggressively offensive and greedy, caring only about themselves. It's only just that some forcible redistribution of wealth take place, and the rich people have no one to blame but themselves.

Oh ... by the way ...

[/s]

[going hot]

Causation vs correlation.

I don't for one moment accept that smokers were and are the cause of the current nanny state.

No, that lays directly at the feet of leftists and progressives who know what is best for YOU.