I have no problem with smokers. I smoke from time to time, and have done so for
twenty-odd years now, but I'm not addicted by any means. I can take it or leave it.
My mom and dad have always smoked as far back as I can remember. My father picked up
the habit over three tours of duty in Viet Nam, where "Lucky Strikes" were included in
all "C-rations," the packets that contained the tin-canned and foil-wrapped food
combat soldiers ate in "the shit" as Dad used to call the war on the rare occasions
when he'd talk about his experiences over there. Of course, that was before the
post-traumatic stress ravaged him completely and we became estranged. I think he
smokes Winstons now. I couldn't help but notice his butts when I last saw him, 4
years ago, at my youngest brother's funeral.
But back then dad smoked Pall Mall straights, those filterless jobs that came in an
all red pack with some royal symbol in white lettering on it. Those squares always
made the ground beneath my feet spin sickly whenever I shared the ones I pilfered from
my mom's purse with my homeboys behind the school house. Mom had switched to Pall
Malls too, so that she and dad would smoke the same brand and she could pick up
cartons and cartons of the crap at the PX at a huge military discount.
Which brings me to my main point: I have no problem with smokers. My beef is with
the damned tobacco companies and the government. How the hell do they get away with
it? They're selling death! It's one of those utopian myths about life in the U.S.,
along with the fallacies of democracy and equal protection under the law, even as duly
cast presidential votes are ignored and wealthy criminals are legally pardoned. The
myth that the government will protect us from harmful foods and drugs. The U.S. is
more capitalistic than democratic. Of the people, by the people and for the people my
ass...it's always about the money.
Roberto said:
<<By the way, I remember reading an interview with Joni about "Smokin' Try Another" in
which she said she was referring to a late night recording session. The cigarette
machine had nothing left in it but Kools, which are unacceptable to even the most
hard-core smoker.>>
There is a classic example of what I despise about the tobacco industry. Just as
"Virginia Slims" cigarettes and the associated marketing blitz were intended, and
largely succeeded, in enslaving a generation of women into smoking, ironically, by
equating the product with liberation ("You've come a long way, baby"), Kools were
marketed almost exclusively to the African American community. Even today, try to go
through any predominantly Black neighborhood in the U.S. without seeing Kool
billboards everywhere, right alongside the multitude of ads glorifying malt liquor,
which is also marketed almost exclusively to black people...and Bob Muller. :-)
And it works...most people in the black community where I grew up smoked Kools
exclusively, assured by the ubiquitous jazz image-based ads that smoking that brand
was cool indeed. Studies have confirmed that upwards of 80% of current smokers got
hooked before they were 17. Thus your Joe Camel cartoon ads and other promotions
targeted at teens and pre-teens. Bob Marley used to sing: "Every time I plant a seed,
dem say 'kill it before it grows, kill it before it grows..."
They're selling death and we're buying it. Just as we're buying "Red Bull" for
example, because it's cutely advertised with cartoons on television and comes in a
pretty silver and blue can. Nobody even knows the color of the liquid or the taste
or nutritional content, or what the hell kind of beverage it's supposed to be. No one
seems to give a rip either, as long as it's "cool." The persuasive and manipulative
power of modern advertising and marketing shouldn't be underestimated. Some of these
companies will knowingly kill you and laugh all the way to the bank while you're dying.
-Julius
