Friday, September 13, 2019

Creating Libertarians


I find it amusing to watch the responses on social media to the proposals to limit/regulate vaping; it seems to be creating a whole new crop of pseudo-libertarians concerned that the government is going just a step too far when they take away something they enjoy.


Disclaimer:  Probably the only really smart choice I made as a teenager was to decide I had no reason to smoke.  Nothing in the ensuing 55-years has persuaded me that was a bad decision.  So, this whole vaping thing is of very little personal interest, but the idea of government oversight is.

It wasn’t very long ago, vaping was being praised as the cure for smoking, and the world would be a totally better place if it replaced cigarettes as a means of relaxation and drug ingestion.  Vaping was supposed to solve the evils of cigarettes and cause far less damage to one’s lungs.  Of course, the young were all over that, because doing something like smoking is one of the first steps in achieving adulthood.  Moving out of your parent’s house used to be another step, but in these times that is perhaps a step too far.

When I held a regular job, I used to marvel when following cars into and out of the base as they rolled down their windows to blow what amounted to a mid-size cumulus cloud out into the open air.  I often wondered if there was some kind of award for the person who could suck in and blow out the greatest amount of that stuff and they were all in training for that contest. 

Now state and federal researchers are investigating e-cigs (vaping devices) because they are allegedly causing lung damage[1] and the alarmists in the federal government have announced they are considering regulations to these products.  Of course, all those people who use them are outraged.  Liberals who have no problem confiscating guns are upset their favorite flavor might be regulated because it could kill you.  Conservatives who have no problem building walls to protect America are outraged because they may be limited in their device of self-abuse selections.  Conspiracy theorists are adding their usual humorous input by claiming this is all being paid for by tobacco industry lobbyists. 
It is kind of fun to listen to the creation of new libertarians although we’ve abandoned the concept of logic and reason years ago so very few, if any, are aware they have a disconnect between expecting the government to regulate what they want to be regulated and leaving them alone to live some singular aspect of their lives unregulated.  Such archaic terms as “Nanny State” are reemerging into the lexicon, and maybe we need a flag or something that reflects the personal choice to fill the air with used water vapor while destroying your lungs.

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