I must thank Aristotle the Geek for drawing my attention to a column written by Mythili Bhusnurmath, a very senior economic journalist, praising pmk ramadoss on his smoking ban, and calling for continuing such coercion on peaceful members of society. “This is for your own good,” kinda stuff.
Actually, 1,30,000 people die on Indian roads every year. In America it is 40,000 – and they have 850 cars per 1000. We have less than 20 cars per 1000. And this number is growing FAST. If nothing is done, many more deaths will occur on roads – a State monopoly. The government can “work” to prevent these unnecessary deaths. What Mythili is inviting is not government work, but government coercion. On people like us, smokers.
Coercion is barbaric.
The Great Ideal of the Natural Order is peaceful and voluntary exchange. No coercion – except upon outlaws. Are smokers somehow “outlaws” that require coercion – like kidnappers or rapists? Which planet is Mythili living on?
And here I am flying the Ganja Flag!
Character is Destiny.
Smoking is an achievement of a very high level of civilization. To the primitive, smoke was something to be scared of, because it meant fire. If he smelt smoke, he ran. Even after fire was tamed, smoke remained something noxious, to be avoided. It took millennia before some humans learnt the art of inhaling the smoke of certain plant products – not noxious smoke, but pleasurable smoke. The ultimate control of fire.
In India, the only smokes for many thousands of years have been ganja and charas, both derived from cannabis, and opium. Tobacco has been a very late entrant, imported from America, where the Red Indians used to smoke it in their “peace pipes.” This is how late the west learnt about smoking. It is again in this respect that we are a far older civilization.
And we all agree that the smoke from Cannabis Indica is better than the smoke from the Tata Indica, and further, that it is also superior to the smoke from India Kings.
The Market must provide us with Bhola Spliffs, advertised as Ganesh ka Baap ka Bidi.
Machine made. So no more lick and paste, no more unnecessary loss of vital body fluids.
From the continent of America we got chillies, potato, maize, cocoa and tobacco. I vote we send the tobacco back – and get the coca!
Ha ha.
I’m flying the Ganja Flag, not the tobacco flag.
Boom Shankar!
One would have to argue that there are two obvious flaws present in the logic of argument that you offer in the second paragraph, even though the conclusion that you reach at—that American roads are safer than Indian one—is probably correct.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, there are more people in India than there are in the States. Hence, since you only compare the total death rate and not the death rate per head, it is an unfair comparison. Secondly, while the number of cars per person (how come suddenly "per person" instead of aggregate, by the way?) is definitely far higher in the States, we are discounting other forms of vehicular transport—most importantly two-wheelers. I would believe that motor-cycles are involved in more road-deaths in India than cars.
However, like I said, the overall conclusion is mostly correct and I agree with the belief that the ban on smoking is quite senseless.
Shankar Boom!
You are at your pithiest best when writing about Ganja!
ReplyDelete"smoke from Cannabis Indica is better than the smoke from the Tata Indica,"
"I vote we send the tobacco back – and get the coca!"
Yeaah! Boom Shanker! Jah Bless!
~Mohit
Hi Sauvik
ReplyDeleteI am severely allergic to smoke of any sort - be it cigarette, ganja or indica. I don't understand the concept of allowing smoking and how is it in sync with the concept of negative and positive liberties and classical liberalism. I would like to know more about these and look forward to reading more about this.
Go Sauvik!
ReplyDelete