Quote:
Originally Posted by xenocide
Phillip Morris sells people products that cause diseases, and lobbies harder than any other company to change peoples lives for the worst.
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Sorry, but I can't get on the boat with you. Everything else you said in this post I can get behind, but Phillip Morris sells pleasure goods. Cigarettes are not a necessity, nor are they something that people are forced into contact with.
Phillip Morris used monsterous tactics to get children to smoke. Cartoons, flavored cigarettes, and even candy cigarettes were deplorable. There is no defending this, and I won't even try. My question to you is when was the last time you saw a Joe Camel cartoon; when was the last time you saw an alcohol or McDonalds (McRib) advertisement?
Phillip Morris has provided substantial monetary compensation for anti-smoking advertisement, and is currently having the bejesus taxed out of their product by the government. Despite the nearly slanderous anti-smoking campaign, and the insanely high taxation, people continue to buy their products as a means to relax.
Perhaps those companies that have products that result in drunken driving and heart disease are also monsters. They kill more people than smoking does, but aren't taxed nearly as heavily as cigarettes. It doesn't take a hyperbole to see that the monsters that are demonized aren't even those that kill the most people...
Budweiser, Miller, McDonalds, and a stable of other fast food restaurants continue on without any fines or bad PR. Where is the justice?
The government needs to get out of my home. Taxation as a stick to shape behavior is the fundamental starting point for communism and socialism. The second that your government believes they know what is best for you, and you do not, is the second that government needs to be reminded that the people who elected them can have them removed!
Edit:
For perspective; I never smoked, rarely drink, and pay more than my fair share in taxes. Just because I don't want something doesn't mean it shouldn't be available to those who do.