Comments on: On liberty.. again.

By: Simon

Simon — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 14:41:33 +0000

I guess I just think without the ban, most pubs wouldn’t have stopped smoking. Right or wrong, I like the fact that they have. Little shelters are fine by me, as are private clubs. Even those cancer buses they have in Japan would be cool..

And regardless of your experiences outside the Queens Head, I do find I can go out now and not go home reeking of an ash-tray afterwards. I think previously you just get used to it when you’re in the same room as them. Now that you’re used to breathing oxygen in a pub, I’m sure it’s just that it’s all the more noticably irritating when you walk outside past the fumes :)

By: Eddie

Eddie — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 14:37:52 +0000

Well first of all, I should probably point out that I didn’t want to get too hung up on the smoking issue. I only included it as one of many freedoms that are gradually being lost thanks to this government.
That said, I do agree with your logic to a certain degree, surprisingly enough. The main point though is that I’m not arbitarily supporting option #1. While I’m personally not bothered by smoking in public, I understand that some people may not want to be around it. I’m all for a banning of smoking in workplaces, and I’ve got no problem with businesses banning smoking from their premises.
I take exception to a completely blanket ban put forth by this government with no real thought. Ok, so you don’t want to be around smokers, that’s fine. Can you tell me why those little smoking shelters in hospital grounds are a problem to you? They become illegal under this ban. Can you tell me why in private clubs it has to become illegal? Surely a private club should act in the same way as a private residence?
Without a government ban, we would have had a pretty decent scenario of some places allowing smoking and others that don’t. Everyone wins, and nobody loses. The currently system just takes it from one extreme to the other.
Oh, and I take it I’m the only one that finds it amusing I inhale more smoke from the small hoarde of people immediately outside the door of the Queens Head now than I ever did when sharing the same room with them. No real argument behind that, I just find it funny.

By: Simon

Simon — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 11:34:12 +0000

The sick bastards! ;)

Though to be fair, first they came for the people who expose themselves in public. Then the murderers. I don’t really see how banning smoking is any different to either of those things.

Plus I think either way, ban or no ban, freedoms are being taken away. Consider:

1. Smoking in public is fine. If non-smokers don’t like it, they are free to stay at home and breathe.
2. Smoking in public is not fine. If smokers don’t like it, they are free to stay at home and smoke.

I think in each case there is the same balance between freedom and restriction, except the subset of society with less freedom is switched in each case - so why the arbitrary decision to support #1? The only way I can decide between the two is based on health, and perhaps the principle that to smoke is a positive choice, so if you want to do it you are the one that should be inconvenienced.

By: Eddie

Eddie — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 14:14:17 +0000

‘First they came for the smokers, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a smoker.
Then they came for the Brompton Bike owners, and by that time, there was no one left to speak for me.’

Don’t say I didn’t warn you ;)

By: Simon

Simon — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 14:03:58 +0000

“This is the government that will ban smoking in all public places from next year, including bus stops and railway station platforms.”

..from personal experience at railway stations, I’m not too cut up about that particular one ;)

By: Nicki

Nicki — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 01:06:00 +0000

I enjoy your political rants; it’s one of the things allows me to consider this blog one of my favorites, though it isn’t necessarily my favorite blog musically. Although I live in the US, I am sincerely disconcerted the prospect of that sort of legislation in any democratic country.