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And, have you seen what your precious car does to the world, environmentally and politically? All for the sake of YOUR convenience. That's quite selfish if you ask me. I think you should give up your car for the benefit of the rest of us. It's rude, selfish, and inconsiderate to others based on the reasons stated in my previous post. I mean, that's why people should stop smoking in public, right?
Cars are damaging, this is a fact. But the convenience factor is a positive. It has a domino effect. Get a car = get to work/school on time = don't get fired for poor attendance/get your kid to school on time/get to the hospital timely/etc.
Name a positive of smoking. (Hint: "it relaxes me" is not a valid answer.)
^^^Agreed. Car exhaust pollutes, too. That is why there are catalytic converters on cars, and air pollution inspections, etc. These are reasonable restrictions on auto use. Plus this thread is supposed to be about cigarette taxes.
Ummm, you obviously didn't read my post. It's not just exhaust that it causes. Go back and read the political consequences to the rest of the world so that you can drive a car and ask if the positives outweigh the good.
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Plus this thread is supposed to be about cigarette taxes.
It's called "analysis". You see, in conversations that don't involve shallow subjects, you go deeper into the material. Unfortunately, most don't get this anymore. If it can't be fed to them in bite sized video clips on TV, it's "getting off subject."
Your sarcasm was not witty. The thread is about smoking! Smokers always try to bring everything else under the sun into the conversation to deflect away from talking about smoking.
Plus, it is in the TOS that posters are to stay ON TOPIC!
Last edited by Katarina Witt; 04-07-2009 at 07:36 PM..
Reason: add last sentence
Location: The Chatterdome in La La Land, CaliFUNia
39,031 posts, read 23,076,885 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by runningncircles1
Ummm, you obviously didn't read my post. It's not just exhaust that it causes. Go back and read the political consequences to the rest of the world so that you can drive a car and ask if the positives outweigh the good.
It's called "analysis". You see, in conversations that don't involve shallow subjects, you go deeper into the material. Unfortunately, most don't get this anymore. If it can't be fed to them in bite sized video clips on TV, it's "getting off subject."
Question to all the smokers here....aren't you absolutely sick of it? I am.
If you mean, am I sick of smoking? Yes, sometimes, other times I still absolutely love it. If you mean am I sick of the ridicule I receive as a smoker, yes I am.
I wonder how many of your friends and family have been saved by seatbelts. I bet they would disagree.
Many people roll their eyes at seatbelts, or helmets, until it saves their life.
In the same way that people who choose to smoke and then come down with emphysema, copd, and cancer later in life turn around and think, "huh, maybe I should have done that differently" and sue the tobacco company, this wouldn't happen if the risk were regulated in the first place.
Now let's hear stories of those who were not saved by seatbelts and helmets.
Are we talking death here? Let's not forget those who ended up permanently disabled or in chronic pain as a result of a car or motorcycle accident.
Those who died as a a result of their dangerous, risky habit of driving an automobile aren't around to say: Maybe I should have taken the bus to work that day, or maybe I should have gotten the exercise and walked those 3 blocks to the convenience store.
What makes for a happy American? When they're on a witch-hunt! The witch-hunts started out in Salem, Massachusetts, and there is no end in sight to them. What did the Communist witch-hunt of the 40's and 50's accomplish? And what is the witch-hunt for sex offenders accomplishing?
Name a positive of smoking. (Hint: "it relaxes me" is not a valid answer.)
It doesn't relax me... I don't do it.
However, it does ease some of the masses out there. I don't want to take that from them. I mean, really, would you want to make smoking illegal, have a black market for it, bootlegging, gangsters declaring their "territory" on neighborhoods, etc. etc. on top of dealing with ex-smokers who are either a) so pompous about how they quit and everyone else is scum or b) extremely irritable? I've delt with b before when it was their choice... don't want to deal with it when it's not.
Again, mass transit does what you want with much less consequences. Sure, isn't AS GOOD as your car, but it does the job. Even in my city, Atlanta, where mass transit is lacking, I'm still able to use it for everyday life. I don't have a car in the "most auto-dependent city on earth." However, for YOUR convenience, you'd much rather take the car instead of the train or bus, even if it causes pollution and smog. Not for the benefit of society, but for YOUR benefit.
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Cars are damaging, this is a fact. But the convenience factor is a positive. It has a domino effect. Get a car = get to work/school on time = don't get fired for poor attendance/get your kid to school on time/get to the hospital timely/etc.
Well, ask yourself a question: why is your city set up in such a way that you NEED a car (or you are convinced you do)? Have you ever asked yourself that? Maybe because you got yourself into this mess asking the government to build more roads instead of rails and busses. Maybe because you spread out your urban areas to cause this. Maybe because YOU GOT ADDICTED TO THE CAR! Oh my, you got yourself addicted and now you're asking ME to pay for YOUR convenience even though I don't get that same convenience? I have to pay taxes to support your habit? I and the rest of the world have to suffer the negatives of your convenience/addiction? However, if someone smokes around you, they're affecting YOU and you need to ban them from smoking in public because it affects you? Hypocrisy at its finest, and you don't even realize it. As I said, let's ban those autos and restructure society to use mass-transit and walking. It might be hard at first, but you'll be better off for it and so will the rest of us not driving.
I just heard something on a local radio station this morning, the DJ's were talking to someone (have no idea who it was), & they were talking about using helmets w/motorcycles. Now, I happen to think it's a good idea to wear a helmet while riding, however their guest was mentioning how some doctors have stated "if that guy would've been wearing a helmet, he'd be dead right now" & also talking about the weight of a helmet in connection w/hitting the pavement & the angle that your head takes while using a helmet, thus causing a broken neck. He's got a good point, as some people like to talk about how sometimes not wearing a seatbelt could save your life in certain instances, but I have to say, I'd rather be wearing the helmet.
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