Saturday, November 22, 2008

The real danger is hypocrisy, not smoking.


I would like to start off by categorically stating that I do not have the slightest intention of either disputing the damaging consequences of smoking or promoting the use of tobacco; quite the opposite I would say. But, frankly speaking, I am amazed by the depth of hypocrisy of the, by all accounts legal, marketing campaign against smoking. The shit has hit the fan, and the so called “expressionists of ideas” are sitting around dealing with the pettiest of matters! Just the thought that the globalized “system” is interested in my health, is enough to drive me crazy! How stupid do they think we are? Aren’t these the same people who have spent the last 70 years consciously and insatiably destroying our planet and continuously degrading the quality of our lives? Aren’t these the same people who have caused the hole in the ozone layer which resulted in the greenhouse effect and which is causing a daily hecatomb of dead and homeless? Aren’t these the same people who are razing the Amazon and affecting the quality of the air we breathe? Are these not the same people who burn down our forests? Are these not the same people who, without nay feelings of remorse, promote the use of mobile phones and high voltage electrical wires that hang ominously above our heads? Are these not the same people who have turned the aquifer into sewage? Are these not the same people who, with their nuclear testing, their selective bombings and their toxic waste, spread carcinogenesis and every other bizarre illness that a human mind can imagine? Are these not the same people who have so drastically affected our food chain with their insecticides, preservatives, dioxins and genetically altered food? Are these not the same people who are constantly increasing the age at which we are entitled to pensions while at the same time lowering pension amounts, causing us tremendous stress and social insecurity? Are these not the same people who have been creating generations of aggressive “zombies” and manic-depressives with the policies they enforce? Are these not the same people who have designated such high prices for raw materials, medicine and basic foodstuffs that they have managed to decimate half the population of third world countries (millions of which are children)? Are these not the same people who with their apathy have legalized criminality? Are these not the same people who have forced the new generation to an impasse by offering them such low wages in a limited job market which demands endless costly qualifications? Are these not the people that keep lending us money to ensure that they can suppress any rebellious tendencies we may have? Are these not the same people who will go to any lengths to hold us hostage (mentally and spiritually, amongst others) – we all know that poverty suppresses the development of mind and spirit? So, how is it that these people love us so much that all they want to do is protect us from the dangers of smoking while at the same time they have legalized all the aforementioned? Are they trying to find a scapegoat? Are they trying to shirk their responsibility? Could it be that they want to promote the more expensive substances, since the profit from these other substances are astronomically greater? Could it be that they are simply testing their “communicative” abilities for the future – ie smoking today, alcohol tomorrow, our free time the day after tomorrow, then extending the eight-hour shift, lowering salaries, etc., etc., etc.? Does this seemingly legal yet “selective” protection not remind you of Goebbels? “Nah, I don’t think so, smoking is to blame!!!!” Well, since smoking is such a culprit (and surely it has its share of blame), why is it that so many non-smokers die every day? (first posted - June 6, 2008)

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