Delete comment from: Captain Capitalism
I don't want to launch into a tirade about the economic principle of "revealed preference," so I'll try to keep it short:
People already have the option of not smoking, or of frequenting establishments that independently prohibit smoking. That such establishments are few, and that people still frequent the establishments that permit smoking, suggests that smoking is not the issue that the health-alarmists make it out to be. If people really cared, they would vote with their pocketbooks. What this is, as you aptly described, is a form of control - in which an exceedingly small minority is imposing its values and beliefs upon the entirety of society.
The problem is not the choice that some people make, to which you object -- the problem is that the "Public Health System" has accepted the burden of people's choices.
Jan 12, 2006, 5:53:00 AM