I think that I might be one of the few folks on this list that have
actually kicked someone in the butt. It happened at another time and place in my
life when I was a much bigger louse surrounded by managers, workers, and
business owners nearly as lousy as me or perhaps more so. But today in the Minneapple
while surrounded by civilized Midwesterners and hardworking immigrants I have
become less of a bother to folks mostly because no one will hire a louse like
me, leaving me to the company of family and friends and in less public ways
to make a living. I have my limits, however, and while they enveloped butt
kicking at one time, blowing smoke in someone's face was beyond the pale to me;
however, it was something that a few of my fellow workers who smoked would do
when harassed about their addiction. It was a more Hobbesian life there in the
People's Republic of Santa Monica, California, at least at the automobile
dealership for which I worked. I kicked a better louse's butt, but I drew another
line at spitting however, since that is unsanitary (I smoked at the time).
Personally, I'd be ecstatic if we had a smoking ban in bars and
restaurants. Ex-smokers are said to be the worst nags about the subject of smoking,
just as the most vociferous atheists seem to be ex-Catholics. I am really looking
forward to it; venues that I gave up after I quit smoking in 1986 will now be
open to me again if a ban goes into effect.
My only problem with a ban is that I don't believe that we should
interfere in any vice a person chooses to indulge in so long as it is conducted so no
one who does not choose to be involved is hurt by it. I feel strongly about
it because prohibitions drive the vice they are meant to control underground.
When vices are underground, they are uncontrollable and we can learn nothing
easily about them anymore. "If I ruled the world," every enduring vice would
have a place and folks who indulged would have endorsements on their driver's
licenses for them. Our vices would be public knowledge and we would know and pay
the costs of them because our activities would be monitored. Big Brother would
be there, and I would love him just as George Orwell's character came to do
so.
All this talk of rights that I see here seems disingenuous because in my
climb from lousiness, I learned that rights are inextricably tied to duties.
I don't kick folks, spit on them, or otherwise interfere with their rights to
be louse-free, because I have a duty to respect their rights and uphold the
social contract that allows us to coexist without the turmoil of societies that
do not observe the same contract unless you ascribe to the same societal
values of the dominant authority. We don't live with a Taliban in this country yet,
but we may soon tumble down that slippery slope...or several of them for that
matter.
Bill Kahn
Prospect Park
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