Friday, 12 July 2013

Stigmatise smokers





  1. Not directly related, but:

  2. Is your objection primarily moral or pragmatic? That such a direct attack on a group of people is unprincipled, or that it's counterproductive because of the hardening/grouping together effects Edwards talked about?

    I suppose it could be both: they're both fine arguments.

  3. 1. If anti-tobacco were all about the harm reduction, rather than about shaming smokers and hating risky pleasures and ESPECIALLY hating the kinds of risky pleasures primarily enjoyed by lower-class groups, they'd be pushing snus and e-cigarettes as very effective less risky products. Instead, their puritanism shows in their tactics. "Let's all gang up to further marginalise a marginalised group" irks me.
    2. It might not even be effective on its own grounds, as Edwards's talk notes. Again, that's consistent with the motivation being hating on smokers for its own sake.