The Greater Good?

I have always tended to libertarianism, though as I get older I have become more conservative, which aside from a mutual suspicion of Big Govetrnment, is very different. But as much as possible, I subscribe to the theory that if you are not hurting someone, you should be left alone. However, second hand smoke clearly does hurt other people, and so now I find myself wondering if government intrusion is necessary to control this, and my reasoning is as follows: If someone goes into a restaurant of his own free will and another patron hits him, that patron is guilty of breaking the law and pays a price. Now you could say the first person shouldn't have gone in there since it was known to be a rowdy bar, but nonetheless the government has laws against hitting somebody anywhere. Now if I go into a restaurant with smokers, I am assaulted by dangerous chemicals which can injure me as seriously as getting punched. The government says this is unacceptable, and forbids smoking. This is obviously analogous to the first situation in outlawing activities which can injure another, and therefore I have problem with it. Freedoms are fine, but not when they endanger another.

I understand why you would feel that way. The problem is that smoking cigarettes is not illegal. If it is as dangerous to public health as everyone seems to think, then it needs to be outlawed. However, until it is outlawed then we should not allow big government to control private establishments on issues where no law has been violated. Smoking in any government run establishment is already prohibited (as well as airlines, movie theaters, schools) so what is the problem if private businesses allow smoking? If the government can arbitrarily dictate what is and isn't allowed in private places of business, then it is only a very small step into our front doors.

...I think you're first hand smoking something...

"..second hand smoke clearly does hurt other people.." Lies. I have never heard of a coroner claim a person has died of "second hand smoke."

Are perfumes and colognes "assault?"

I live in California and I don’t smoke. The Government has banned smoking in ALL public places. There where ads for a proportion on the ballot a few years ago that would have banned smoking in bars and such. The ad had females which supposedly were cocktail waitresses pleading for a smoke-free place to work. Sort of like topless dancers lobby against air conditioners, because they got colds. It is nice to go to a restaurant and not smell the smoke, and go to a bowling alley and not come home smelling like smoke. However, I do not like the government telling me where I can and can’t engage in a legal vice. If the government can use the argument that smoking is bad for your health, therefore it will dictate were but not if you may indulge. Then it follows that it could ban bikinis because of the danger of skin cancer from long-term exposure to the sun.

Sadly, business is just too weak-kneed to police itself. If the government had not stopped smoking in public places, then NO place would have stopped smoking in their places of business. Day Light Savings Time is the same thing. I know of no one that likes the changes in the time twice a year. We enjoy the extra bit of sun light in the summer, but couldn’t businesses just do it themselves? Would it not make since for a business to tell it’s employees, “Starting on this date we will start working a hour earlier until the fall”? But no, they have to drag almost the entire country, kicking and screaming, back an hour then forward an hour. We are a nation of sheep, and will do what everybody else is doing, so we don’t seem, “different”.

Thanks for the thoughts, but I have to politely disagree.

"Sadly, business is just too weak-kneed to police itself. If the government had not stopped smoking in public places, then NO place would have stopped smoking in their places of business."

This statement is making the assumption that if a private establishment chooses to allow smoking, they are making a wrong choice. That is just my point....who says it is a wrong choice? You obviously feel that it should be banned because you prefer not to smell smoke when out in public. but there are plenty of other people who feel the opposite. Who's preference should prevail? It should be left to private businesses to decide what the majority of their customers prefer. Obviously, if they are doing good business then they have no need to ban smoking. It is big brother who has decided what is a wrong or right choice for these private businesses. Today the government decides smoking is such a public menace that private owners have to be forced to cater to the "greater good". What will be next?

Why do good ideas have to be implemented at gunpoint? If a non-smoking bar is such a good idea,, why not invest your own money in the license and inventory and make a fortune on your brilliant idea instead of asking the government to implement your idea by coercing others at no cost to you?

The government will never outlaw tobacco. They are more addicted to the tax revenue than the smokers are to cigarettes.

There is no scientifically valid study of the harmful effects of second hand smoke. There is only one such study that started with the conclusion and worked backwards to establish the desired result by fudging the numbers and changing the commonly accepted standards for such studies.

Itis also interesting that the anti-smoking initiatives seem to invariably come from the same people that preach tolerance on the things the rest of us find offensive.

Daylight savings saves fuel! The lowered demand for lighting saves a huge amount of fuel every year. Think of it as an alternative energy source that's environmentally friendly, promotes conservation, and lowers our dependence on foreign sources of energy.

Dead on as usual. I think Thomas Jefferson summed it up when he said, "I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them." I want the government to stop taking care of me!