[danmar]

So, on the same premise as firing a smoker....shouldn't it be legal to fire someone who is HIV-positive?

Exactly ;... what about if your cholesterol is out of whack (drop the bacon and eggs, otherwise you will loose your job), the bier gut is way too big (better drop the brewskies or you can kiss your job good bye). It looks to me that slowly but surely we are marching towards an Orwellian society. One little step at the time...nobody pays attention...nobody get's hurt...

[SAJ]

Good point, save only that you are talking about a Trotskyite society, not an Orwellian one. Orwell's great black satire, 1984, featured ''thoughtcrime'' and ''goodthink''. In short, his parodical IngSoc gov't was more concerned with the control of the mind.

Trotsky took a different view (and, had he been alive in 1947, I've no doubt Orwell would have taken a pot or two at him, specifically; what an ass). Trotsky said on several occasions that a ''traitor's'' thoughts would be betrayed ultimately by his actions, and thus advocated ONLY the state control of citizens' actions.