[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by dead_battery

the fact is - we HAVE to recognize this as a collective ethical catastrophe and not an individual personal problem to be overcome by adjustment to life in a way that makes us hedonic and compliant.

of course you're right, but this is no cure for your immediate problem.

it's like having a house fire and complaining that the town lacks a properly funded fire department. all well and good! but first you have to make it to the city council alive to make that point.

and don't forget that the grassroots can also defeat top-down approaches. anti-smoking "fascism" (as it's called by its opponents, including me at one time) in america is growing by leaps and bounds thanks to a social movement that started with a few individuals and is now an established force.

consider then that when you quit smoking you remove a profit center from your enemies. when you teach that to someone else you remove two. then they teach that to someone else, and things can grow exponentially. yes, the struggles are infinite and endless but they have to be fought regardless, no?