My February 2002 column, “They?re coming after you,” warned that Americans who enthusiastically supported the anti-tobacco zealots? attack on smokers were, like decent Germans did during the 1920s and ?30s, building the Trojan horse that would one day enable a tyrant to take over. The whole issue of tobacco smoke nuisance is really a private property issue in which the owner should decide how his private property shall be used, whether it?s an office building, restaurant, bar or home. That?s unless one group of people wishes to use the coercive powers of government, in the name of health or some other ruse, to impose its preferencesupon others.
Anti-tobacco zealots don?t have a monopoly on tyrannical designs. There are those who wish to control what we eat, and the successful attack on smokers has provided a template for their agenda. Chief among the food tyrants is the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). These tyrants want taxes on foods they deem as non-nutritious. They?ve even proposed a 5 percent tax on new television sets and video equipment and a $65 tax on each new car or an extra penny per gallon of gas. Why? They see watching television and videos, riding instead of walking, as contributing to obesity. Thus, in their view, just as tobacco companies were responsible for people smoking, television and video manufacturers are responsible for people being couch potatoes. Automobile companies are responsible for people riding instead of walking. The restaurant industry is responsible for American obesity.
