You are loved, you are cared for

[altariel]

So the smoking ban is one of those things where I'm brought face to face with the limits of my own philosophy of civil liberty. Because I'd defend to the death my right to die in a ditch in complete anonymity, but I see no good reason why some b*gg*r should be smoking at me while I do it.

Someone on the news (possibly our Malory Towers headmistress health secretary) made a comparison with the seatbelt legislation that came in whenever it was. What's interesting about that is that I remember Liberty spokesgnomes being out in force during that debate, and I don't think I've heard a peep from them over the smoking ban. Of course, they're very preoccupied at the moment trying to prevent schemes like stamping barcodes on all new born babies or eradicating tedious bits of red tape like trial by jury.

Just before Life on Mars there's a programme on benefit fraudsters that I keep on missing. Has anyone seen it? Is it all: "Remember! Responsible citizens shop their neighbours to the authorities!" I'd like to see a jolly and informative programme that says: "Remember: Reponsible citizens groove at the political process!" That would surely be a challenge for a documentary maker.

Comments

[hafren.livejournal.com]

I've always felt that just as the freedom of action of Joe Soap's fist stops well short of my nose, so his freedom to smoke stops short of my husband's asthmatic lungs. When we were last in Ireland it was a wonderful sesne of freedom to be able to go into pubs and cafes without him starting to wheeze. as for private clubs, hell, people have to work in them and they don't always have a choice of jobs.

[matildabj.livejournal.com]

I think that's where the civil liberties thing ends for me - as Altariel says, you have the right to die in a ditch in complete anonymity, as you have the right to kill yourself slowly with tobacco. But you don't have the right to drag anyone else down with you.

I was in Ontario in 2004 when the smoking ban came into effect in Toronto, and my response then was that I didn't think it was workable. But as I heard someone on the Today programme this morning say, in a year's time we'll wonder what all the fuss was about because it'll be so popular.