The Anti-Smoking snowball has not only left the top of the hill but has gained so much momentum that there appears to be no stopping it. I have to tell you that I am amazed by this. Kudos need to go to those zealots that have tirelessly spun this program to where it is today. Forget the science and forget the logic. The propaganda has become the accepted truth.
Smokers today are the Blacks in the South in the first half of the 1900s.
Smokers are the Jews in Germany in the 1930s and 1940s.
Think about those two statements carefully.
In both these cases, a large cross-section of a population was blamed for societies problems. Blacks were not allowed to go to the same schools,use the same washrooms, eat at the same restaurants, etc. Intermingling was opposed by the intelligentsia.
The intelligentsia also meekly accepted Hitler’s views of the Jewish community thus supporting, unintentional as it may have been, the resulting Holocaust. Smoking? Studies will likely show that the Bridge disaster is the fault of Second Hand Smoke!
Social Movements have had a tremendous impact on American history. Just in the last 60 years alone, Black civil rights, Womens rights and Gay Rights have seen radical changes because of the efforts of their supporters. Ensuing Legislative action at local, state and national levels has altered the landscape significantly.
How does this happen? What are the forces and factors that come in to play? MASS MEDIA is what it is all about. Whether you are Adolph Hitler, Martin Luther King, Gloria Steinham or Stanton Glantz, getting your message out there as loud as you can and as often as you can, is what it is all about. Just keep hammering your point over and over and over and get the coverage.
A little story about the Media. 30 years ago an old college buddy of mine was the news director of a ABC affiliate television station in northern Wisconsin. I asked him what formula he used to decide what items to include in the evening newscast and which to leave out because of the time restriction. Simple he said. He put in what HE thought was important. So, the news you see and hear has to be biased. It can’t be helped.
That brings us back to Smoking. Right now there can be nothing more disgusting to the majority of people. I’m not just talking about non-smokers. Many guilt ridden Smokers will tell you the same thing about their habit. It’s disgusting. I’ll bet you there are a ton of “closet” smokers out there who don’t want any of their friends and associates to know they Smoke. Sounds a bit like being a Lesbian or a Gay 25 years ago. Of course, now, being Gay is kinda’ the IN thing. They went from being Social Outcasts hiding in the closet to having their own TV programs and bragging about their lifestyle. They, as couples, demand the same rights and privileges as heterosexual couples. They march and protest and get prime time news coverage. In the last 20 years, they have gone from a disgusting fringe group to part of mainstream society. Tell people something enough times and they will soon tolerate it.
In the meantime, Smokers have, during the same time period, gone from the mainstream into the Closet. It went from the concern over what effect tobacco has on the Smoker to what effect Second-Hand Smoke has on those who don’t smoke. Especially the KIDS.The campaign has been brilliantly orchestrated by the Anti-Smoking Movement. The slippery slope they said would not happen, that they were not interested in 20 years ago, has become the GIANT SNOWBALL! Soon they will be seeking legislation to prohibit Tobacco altogether.
Right now you can say anything you want about Smoking. It makes no difference if it’s based on science and facts or not. Anything works. The propaganda machine has worked to perfection. And yet, the facts are that no link has really been found between smoking and ANY disease. And, no research has shown the Second Hand Smoke has ANY impact whatsoever on anybody.
Here are some serious questions that need answered and the answers broadcast loudly to the public; They include;
—-If smoking causes lung cancer, how come the majority of smokers never get lung cancer? How come people who have never smoked do?
—-How come the Media is such a shill for the Anti-smoking bloc? How come you never ever hear about those studies which show that Second Hand Smoke is not a concern? Or that there may be actual beneficial effects from smoking? Tell me, Mass Media, why so much Bias?
—-Name me one KID, by name, who has died from Smoking or Second Hand Smoke? Then name the KIDS who have died as the result of Swimming Accidents, Automobile Accidents, Alcohol Abuse and so on? Tell the people the Truth!
—-How many convicts are or have been incarcerated because of their Nicotine “addiction”? How many because of Alcohol and Drugs?
—-Lock yourself in a Garage with 40 people who each smoke cigarettes, say 2 an hour, for 8 hours. Then “clear” the air and lock yourself in the same garage for 15 minutes with your car running. Let me know what happens?
—-Where is all the money coming from that is being spent on the Anti-Smoking Crusade? Always remember to follow the money.
I’ve got a hundred more but just getting the TRUTH on these questions will be a huge start.
Look, I’m not talking about an Oliver Stone type conspiracy here. What this is, frankly, is the intelligentsia deciding that the end justifies the means coupled with quite a bit of financial backing for the Anti’s from the Pharmaceutical Industry who would love nothing more than to take over the Nicotine business for all the terminally “addicted”. Lots of bucks involved here. There are at least 80 million smokers in the USA. That’s a lot of gum and patches.
So there you are at the New York Times or Newsweek Magazine or CNN hanging out with your colleagues—-odds are few of them smoke, if any. If you are a Smoker, you are doing your best to hide it. One thing for sure, among this Intelligentsia who “know”” everything, you are NOT going to champion SMOKING or anything that might show it in a good light. You’ll be told it’s disgusting. You’ll be told you’re stupid. You’ll be told someone of your ilk should know better. Whereas 40 to 50 years ago, the peer pressure might have started you smoking, today the peer pressure among the Intelligentsia might make you want to quit.
Blacks are about 12% of the population. Hispanics are about 14% of the population. Jews are about 2% of the population. Gays are about 1% to 10% of the population. SMOKERS ARE AT LEAST 20% OF THE POPULATION. That’s quite a voting bloc, huh?
I’m predicting that what’s going to happen here will go something like this………………..States and Governments will continue to raise Taxes on Cigarettes; Smokers will begin more and more to buy Black Market Smokes; State and local authorities will continue to Ban Smoking in more and more places; More lawsuits will be filed; More Fines will be levied; More Violent interactions will occur;Smokers will find a spokesman of the Steinham, King, Heston ilk; the actual facts and truths will be discussed; money trails will be exposed;and so on.
Meanwhile, more important things will, as usual, be ignored. Things like Education, our Infrastructure, the Threats of Terrorism, Jobs for the American Workers, the collapse of our Culture, etc. As long as those with a cause, almost any cause can get their minute or so on Prime Time and as long as the Intelligentsia is allowed to get away with their Biased reporting, we will continue to flounder and wonder why America has lost its greatness. From my viewpoint, the most intolerant group in America are these Intelligentsia who think they know everything and have all the answers.. Those below them on the Social Strata, in their minds, don’t know what’s good for them so they need to be told how to live their lives. So much for the land of personal liberty.
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