The world is full of this, and that’s.
We learn as we go. At least, that is the general idea here. We gather knowledge on all levels, mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually. And we grow as a result of this newfound awareness.
Tobacco is a perfect example of this. It was on today’s date, July 27, 1586, when Sir Walter Raleigh gathered up a bunch of tobacco in the place that would become Virginia. He took that tobacco onto his boat, sailing it back to England to show the royals there.
Ah, the smoking of tobacco. What is it about filling our lungs with the smoke of an inhaled plant that is so pleasing to humans? I am not sure I have the answer to this question, although I was a smoker for 22 years. Every day I would light up and draw it in, saturating every bronchiole and alveoli, with that smoke, until I’d blow it right back out again. In and out. All the day long.
For so very long, it was a normal thing to do. The smoking of a pipe, or cigar, or cigarette. It was a harmless plant, found in nature, after all. How bad could it be?
Well, of course, we all know the story, but I’ll tell it again here. A group of smart humans started noticing people getting sick. And they began investigating to find the cause, and hopefully a cure. Eventually, they figured out that smoking was making people ill. Not only that. It was killing them.
They started spreading the news to the rest of us humans. “Stop it,” they’d say.
Some smart humans did quit. But others went on and on, huffing and puffing and blowing their own houses down.
Then, also on this date in 1965, the United States President, Lyndon B. Johnson, signed a bill requiring cigarette makers to print health warnings on all cigarette packages about the effects of smoking. And so, they did.
The cigarette packs came out with the skull and crossbones on them. Or something along those lines.
But we humans? We continued to smoke and die from it.
Things took a long time to sink in. Eventually, smoking was banned from places like airplanes, and restaurants, theaters, and church basements. Now, it is hard to smoke anywhere, except for in your own home. And even then, it is banned by other family members. So, more and more people quit. I was one, thankfully.
Today, it still happens, but the rates are lower.
Men more than women.
• About 15 of every 100 adult men (15.3%)
• Nearly 13 of every 100 adult women (12.7%)
Less-educated more than higher educated.
• About 35 of every 100 adults with a GED certificate (35.3%)
• 4 of every 100 adults with a graduate degree (4.0%)
And. These numbers are decreasing. The year I was born, 1964, the year before LBJ’s warning labels were issued, the smoking rate among adults was 43%. Today is about 13.5%.
Now, here is my question. Were my civil liberties threatened when public health officials warned me that smoking was bad for my health and others?
Absolutely not. It was public education and an attempt to save my life.
And now? Are my civil liberties being violated when public health officials ask me to wear a mask and take a vaccine to prevent COVID from killing me and others?
Absolutely not. It is sound advice.
I guess we need something with a warning label, maybe.
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“Any fool can know. The point is to understand.”
― Albert Einstein
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“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
― Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!
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“For me, I am driven by two main philosophies: know more today about the world than I knew yesterday and lessen the suffering of others. You’d be surprised how far that gets you.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
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Go blow it out your…
