I smoke. Not a lot. But some. I go through 1 to 1 1/2 packs a day cigarettes. However, out of that pack, I only smoke about 3/4 of a cigarette before I’m done with the cigarrette. It is a habit within a habit and one that is both not good and becoming increasingly expensive given the government’s tireless need for more money to support more programs to fight my lack of knowledge about things I know far more about than any one given person in government: myself.
Slate (ht: theAgitator) has a recent piece on at least one liberal suddenly being shaken out of his dogmatic daze to realize the real dangers of the increasingly popular nanny state. Now that states and the federal government have pushed through the smoking war and declared victory (sic), they now have time to look at every other potential vice including the consumption of sugary sweets and foods that are considered “bad” for you.
I like to call such paternalism “the success of the anti-smoking crusade”. Now that the victors have squashed resistance to anti-smoking measures they find themselves with even more time on their hands to consider what you and I shove down our throats.
You see, governments are going after my second vice: soda. I drink a lot of soda. I would venture a guess that I probably drink close to 144 o.z. of Moutain Dew a day. But there are a couple of caveats that come with that:
- I mostly drink fountain soda
- I add ice (waters down the content)
- I mix my mountain dew at 40% diet, 60% regular. (cuts down on calorie intake)
To some this may seem like a lot of soda. It is. And by most measures, I’m not obese. My yearly health checkups are generally positive. I have plenty of energy, no weird deformities or abnormalities and like to think I’m doing just fine.
But the ever-wise public health community appears to know better. Some are advocating for added taxes on such items that might lead to obesity because we nitwits have no clue on what our habits do to our bodies.
For example,smokers like me seem to not be aware that we are missing some sensitivity to smelling, decreased lung function, and the increased cancer risk that comes with smoking.
So the thinking goes that soda drinkers don’t know what they are doing to their own bodies. So to increase the amount of information available to soda drinkers and help coerce their habits, a taxes appear to be the best remedy to fight the “good” fight for public health.
On that note, I would invite legislators and public health demagogues to talk to my dentist. In the past year I have probably made the guy fairly rich because I paid, in cash, for the consequences of my poor behavior. I paid alright. Nearly $4500 to pay for the consequences of my habits.
So I guess that maybe I should just be happy that someone, somewhere, knows far more about the costs of my choices than I. If it weren’t for these people, I would have never known the broken molars and cavities were the result of my habits.
