Marius Bendiksen wrote in a message to Bob Lawrence:

 MB> That said, I positively hate passive smoking, amongst other things
 MB> because it irritates my airways, and causes my eyes and nose to be
 MB> runny for days, but more importantly because it is a symbol of the
 MB> inconsiderate attitude of most smokers. If I can avoid disturbing
 MB> someone at little cost to myself, I do so. Similarly, if they'd
 MB> just move downwind of me, or sit down at a table further away, or
 MB> wait until I was done eating before lighting a cig (assuming I was
 MB> almost done), that'd be considerate. While I don't have a right to
 MB> demand that people be considerate, I do feel justified in being
 MB> angry with them.

There are inconsiderate smokers,  no doubt,  but not all are.

 MB> Either way, I'm more opposed to using law as a means of "social
 MB> harmonization" then I am opposed to smoking.

It's a tool used to exert power,  nothing more.

 MB> In a democracy, however, social harmonization is one of the 
 MB> primary uses of the law, especially in socialist countries (e.g. 
 MB> USA).

Interesting that you refer to the USA as a socialist country,  I'm sure
that a lot of folks don't consider it such but it's been sliding down that
particular slippery slope for some time now.

 MB> As a side note, after Norway banned smoking in restaurants, bars 
 MB> and so forth, a number of people are now able to enjoy the night
 MB> life that weren't previously able to do so. As a result, the profit
 MB> has actually climbed, much to the chagrin of the naysayers ;)

There have been laws passed here to that effect in some places,  but in my
view they violate the property rights of the club owner.  They can choose
to set the tone of their establishment,  and should be able to.



> I don't think so. Law only seems to go one way... more and more
> restriction for better and better reasons.

 MB> Er.. I'd beg to differ. Law only seems to go one way... more and
 MB> more restriction and vagueness for more and more popular,
 MB> short-term reasons. 

Yes.

What does any of this have to do with SF?

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