A Pint, A Pipe and Politics Explained

For those who know of G.K. Chesterton, you may have figured out where I came up with the title for my blog, "A Pint, A Pipe and Politics". Chesterton was a convert to Catholicism and is attributed to saying that he became catholic because Catholics did not see a contradiction between a pipe, a pint and prayer - meaning that there was nothing sinful about enjoying liquor and tobacco - in moderation of course. :) This went against a good many other faiths that pushed an extreme form of abstinence from liquor and tobacco.

When it comes to liquor and tobacco, there is a very long history of politics and in turn political freedom attached to it. When a government would tax to excess and restrict the use of tobacco and liquor it was a safe bet that other political freedoms were being infringed upon.

If only the busybodies of the world would just relax and allow a more "live and let live" attitude, maybe they would be a wee bit happier in life. Yes, I am making the assumption that the anti-tobacco crowd tends to be a bit of a no-joy bunch. To actively seek to deny a man (or woman) the freedom to walk into a cigar bar and enjoy a good cigar or pipe for no other reason than to be doing it 'for the good of the community' invites the caricature of a dour disposition.

The argument used to enact a ban against a cigar bar for instance has no logical support. If they are doing it for the employees it begs the question of why someone would seek employment in a cigar bar in the first place if they were concerned about their health. I can hear the rebuttal now of something to the effect of not being able to secure employment elsewhere and thus 'trapped' working in a smoke infested bar. If you take away the purpose of a cigar bar how can you expect the bar to stay in business...you can't. Just ask all the non Indian Reservation cigar bar owners in Washington State. Oh, wait - you can't! THEY NO LONGER EXIST! When your goal is the total prohibition of tobacco, none of this matters, so spare us the BS of doing it for 'the workers'.