Ironworks Gaming Forum - View Single Post

Thorfinn · 05-10-2003, 01:16 PM

Timber, regarding your presumed tongue-in-cheek aside, I seriously doubt there would be a revolution of arms. It would not be effective, unless the government went seriously nuts, and armed revolutions have a less than stellar record of installing a better regime. The "revolution" I foresee will be almost entirely peaceful, using the free market to make the government destroy itself, at least peaceful until the people have to deal with the violent death throes of government. Again, way OT, but I would discuss elsewhere if you like.

Now, as for the smoking ban, Timber is probably closest to my POV. I believe that we own ourselves, and that life is a series of free choices we all make. Some people will choose to do self-destructive things, and as long as they do not force others to bear the consequences, no foul. As Timber has pointed out repeatedly, people have the free choice to go into any given bar, and as Mordenhelm points out, there is nothing (other than the little problem of getting the government to grant a liquor license) to prevent people from opening a smoke-free bar. Hope y'all caught that -- the reason we don't have as many smoke-free bars as y'all might like is because government restricts the total number of bars, and bars that cater to smokers are more profitable, and can bid more for the liquor licenses. Got that -- smokers are not the enemy here, gummint is. They created the problem in the first place by limiting free entry into the market, and are seeking to "solve" the problem by pitting civilians against each other, so they never realize who the real enemy is...

People have been smoking for centuries, but not until somewhere around the last 75 years or so has our standard of living improved to the point that we had the means to actually engage in enough smoking to be significant. In the early 20th century, most people who smoked could afford no more than one bowl per day. I take that as a phenomenal success. We are no longer just struggling to get enough food to survive, we are now wealthy enough to blow a wad on stuff that harms us. Now, if only we could get gummint to get the heck out of the way of entreprenuers who are anxious to make products to compete for the money that people are blowing on self-destruction, or at least to provide an alternative means of harming oneself...

05-10-2003, 01:16 PM	#80
Thorfinn Zhentarim Guard Join Date: February 24, 2003 Location: Indiana Age: 63 Posts: 358	Timber, regarding your presumed tongue-in-cheek aside, I seriously doubt there would be a revolution of arms. It would not be effective, unless the government went seriously nuts, and armed revolutions have a less than stellar record of installing a better regime. The "revolution" I foresee will be almost entirely peaceful, using the free market to make the government destroy itself, at least peaceful until the people have to deal with the violent death throes of government. Again, way OT, but I would discuss elsewhere if you like. Now, as for the smoking ban, Timber is probably closest to my POV. I believe that we own ourselves, and that life is a series of free choices we all make. Some people will choose to do self-destructive things, and as long as they do not force others to bear the consequences, no foul. As Timber has pointed out repeatedly, people have the free choice to go into any given bar, and as Mordenhelm points out, there is nothing (other than the little problem of getting the government to grant a liquor license) to prevent people from opening a smoke-free bar. Hope y'all caught that -- the reason we don't have as many smoke-free bars as y'all might like is because government restricts the total number of bars, and bars that cater to smokers are more profitable, and can bid more for the liquor licenses. Got that -- smokers are not the enemy here, gummint is. They created the problem in the first place by limiting free entry into the market, and are seeking to "solve" the problem by pitting civilians against each other, so they never realize who the real enemy is... People have been smoking for centuries, but not until somewhere around the last 75 years or so has our standard of living improved to the point that we had the means to actually engage in enough smoking to be significant. In the early 20th century, most people who smoked could afford no more than one bowl per day. I take that as a phenomenal success. We are no longer just struggling to get enough food to survive, we are now wealthy enough to blow a wad on stuff that harms us. Now, if only we could get gummint to get the heck out of the way of entreprenuers who are anxious to make products to compete for the money that people are blowing on self-destruction, or at least to provide an alternative means of harming oneself...