(no subject)
I hate this episode of Family Guy. I mean it is funny and everything, but it is really disturbing. I’m talking about how at the end, for no other reason than because the company was ‘evil’ and ‘bad’ they were fined infinity billion dollars.
Cigarettes are a filthy, disgusting habit. They poison people’s lungs, pollute the air and lead to all kinds of health problems. Personally, I detest them. I don’t smoke for many, many reasons. But what the tobacco companies are doing is selling a product that people want, they are not forcing anything down anyone’s lungs. What do they do? They advertise. They promote. They portray smoking as a positive thing, and they show an unrealistic view of what happens when you use their product. Guess what? SO DOES EVERY SINGLE OTHER COMPANY ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH. It’s called “selling” your product. What would happen if sports drinks were shown to have no real effect until after 45 minutes of hard exercise? What would happen to soft drink companies if they showed a bunch of rotten teeth, dehydrated kids, and unhealthy amounts of sugar intake? What would happen to shoe companies if they weren't able to hire pro-athletes to promote the idea that the shoe will make you jump higher?
People say that there is a difference, soda and addidas don’t kill anyone. This is true, but we have to realize that the people dying died because they wanted to smoke. They may have tried to quit (or not) and they decided to keep smoking. And who is to blame? Evil tobacco companies, who were only supplying to a demand? No, the real people at fault here are the so called ‘victims’ of Big Tobacco. If it wasn’t for them, big Tobacco wouldn’t exist, no?
What burns me most is the way that the tobacco company on the show just played the game, trying to play by their rules and prove that they weren’t bad. Like that was what they had to prove. Like the only argument for the tobacco companies was “come on…come on!” That is not what they should have been doing - they should have said that it’s not the government’s business to decide that just because something is ‘bad’ and ‘evil’ that it deserves to have all of it’s money taken illegally and be forced out of business, meanwhile plenty of concenting adults still just want to enjoy the product.
So let’s just fine Big Tobacco infinity billion dollars, and therefore violating all kinds of legal rights, because it’s the moral thing to do. The last time I checked, it was the Supreme courts job to interpret the Law, not arbitrarily make up it’s own moral code.
I think that the tobacco company is a hero, fighting for consumer choice and responsibility, putting decision back in the hand of the individual and not Big Government.
Wow, two lj cuts in a row. I must be in a ranty mood.
Cigarettes are a filthy, disgusting habit. They poison people’s lungs, pollute the air and lead to all kinds of health problems. Personally, I detest them. I don’t smoke for many, many reasons. But what the tobacco companies are doing is selling a product that people want, they are not forcing anything down anyone’s lungs. What do they do? They advertise. They promote. They portray smoking as a positive thing, and they show an unrealistic view of what happens when you use their product. Guess what? SO DOES EVERY SINGLE OTHER COMPANY ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH. It’s called “selling” your product. What would happen if sports drinks were shown to have no real effect until after 45 minutes of hard exercise? What would happen to soft drink companies if they showed a bunch of rotten teeth, dehydrated kids, and unhealthy amounts of sugar intake? What would happen to shoe companies if they weren't able to hire pro-athletes to promote the idea that the shoe will make you jump higher?
People say that there is a difference, soda and addidas don’t kill anyone. This is true, but we have to realize that the people dying died because they wanted to smoke. They may have tried to quit (or not) and they decided to keep smoking. And who is to blame? Evil tobacco companies, who were only supplying to a demand? No, the real people at fault here are the so called ‘victims’ of Big Tobacco. If it wasn’t for them, big Tobacco wouldn’t exist, no?
What burns me most is the way that the tobacco company on the show just played the game, trying to play by their rules and prove that they weren’t bad. Like that was what they had to prove. Like the only argument for the tobacco companies was “come on…come on!” That is not what they should have been doing - they should have said that it’s not the government’s business to decide that just because something is ‘bad’ and ‘evil’ that it deserves to have all of it’s money taken illegally and be forced out of business, meanwhile plenty of concenting adults still just want to enjoy the product.
So let’s just fine Big Tobacco infinity billion dollars, and therefore violating all kinds of legal rights, because it’s the moral thing to do. The last time I checked, it was the Supreme courts job to interpret the Law, not arbitrarily make up it’s own moral code.
I think that the tobacco company is a hero, fighting for consumer choice and responsibility, putting decision back in the hand of the individual and not Big Government.
Wow, two lj cuts in a row. I must be in a ranty mood.