We gave it a day or two to sink in – and even though we know some folks are tired of our occasional rants against society, we have no choice this time. Hope you’ll forgive us, but we’re still streaming. And we’ll get to the rant in a minute.
Regular Smoke Signals readers have heard our theory on the reason why the anti-smoking movement has met with very little “opposition” : human nature requires that groups of people have the ability to publicly assert their superiority over other groups. Obviously (and correctly), it’s no longer acceptable for people to publicly assert their superiority over racial, ethnic or religious groups – so there’s a void to be filled.
Enter the leaders of the anti-smoking movement – they make it acceptable for a large group of people to publicly assert their superiority over a minority: smokers. We’re not talking about possibly understandable health concerns. We’re talking about discrimination and disparagement, which has been a constant tool of the anti-smoking movement throughout its growth.
Now…back to the rant.
This week’s US surgeon general’s report on second hand smoke contained what was, in our view, a dangerous and unacceptable “applause line.” Surgeon General Richard Carmona included in his statement a suggestion for those who aren’t “protected” against second hand smoke: “Stay away from smokers.”
Excuse us???
Not “stay away from smoke” or “stay away from people who are smoking” – but “Stay away from smokers.”
In other words – don’t just demonize the activity. Demonize the people.
And we weren’t surprised to see that statement as the headline in a number of newspaper around the country. In our local paper, it was the lead headline on the front page, in a type size usually reserved for disasters or wars.