Saturday, January 17, 2015

We should be outraged but most don't give a rat's...

Before Xmas I blogged a letter I wrote to my local paper which was published and has duly led to a couple of 'interesting' discussions with 'neighbours' who don't give a f--k about the daylight robbery of nicotine addicts and are quite happy for smokers to pay outrageous taxes to be spent on whatever the govt likes, thank you very much. The very same people would complain bitterly about unreasonable taxes that affect them but are happy for smokers to be persecuted. Also people have told me they love mass surveillance. It makes them feel safe.

Anyway, Jamie left a comment on it this morning which nobody will notice if I don't highlight it today.

Jamie said... I'd like to report a robbery Lindsay

https://r1016132.wordpress.com/2015/01/17/crimes-act-1961-235-aggravated-robbery-ancestors-of-mine-would-not-be-impressed/

Great post Jamie. I've borrowed a couple of images.

https://r1016132.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/agravated-robbery.jpg

A Nazi anti-smoking ad titled “The chain-smoker”: “He does not devour it (the cigarette), it devours him"

4 comments:

KG said...

The attitude of people towards tobacco taxes reminds me of the Groucho Marx quip:
"Those are my principles, and if you don't like them - I have others."

Anonymous said...

High Tobacco taxes are a mathematically (actuarially) inevitable consequence of a socialist health system.
A socialist health system is a mathematically (actuarially) inevitable consequence of the universal franchise.

Anonymous said...

Not being a smoker I am perhaps a trifle biased. Isn't the burden of the costs of smoking simply another challenge along with the health issues which smokers adopt each time they light-up?
I agree with the previous comment.

Cadwallader

Lindsay Mitchell said...

Not being a smoker either I have no reason to be biased towards their interests.

However,

1/ It is my understanding that tobacco taxes long ago exceeded the health care costs incurred by smokers.

2/ As with the obese, a majority forfeit years of their otherwise natural life and do not incur large Super and drawn-out end of life care costs.

3/ So despite the socialist health system which dominates (remember there are smokers with private health insurance) there is no economic reason to hound either of these groups with excessive taxes (sugar could be next).