"People haven't historically consumed cigarettes "willingly", they've been manipulated into it. Lied to about it. For hundreds of years corporations have manipulated people's emotions on a far grander scale than this film has attempted. "
How stupid do you have to be to TRUST corporations, advertisements, commercials or governments about breathable smoke?
A fool and his money ..
The point about 'willingly' is that no one absolutely FORCED anyone to smoke. People don't have to smoke. They don't have to even watch commercials, and they absolutely don't have to believe the commercials/ads. Lastly, and most importantly, they do not have to act upon what anyone claims. I can claim that I am your long lost uncle, and lie to you about a hidden treasure, but that doesn't mean that you HAVE to believe me and give me money so we can go dig up the non-existing treasure.
You don't have to be duped!
That's why the law, for a long time, didn't even include "fraud", because it was considered that stupid people deserve to be fooled, and that everyone should be smart enough in their dealings not to be fooled by con artists and fraudsters.
In my opinion, it isn't, and can't be against the law to lie. I mean, where's the freedom of speech, if freedom to lie isn't included? What about predictions that do not come true - have those been lies?
Lying is not against the law, even though it's immoral. But why would any sane human being EXPECT MORALITY from a soulless "person" (=corporation)?
Manipulation is one thing, forcing people to do something without a reasonable alternative is another. Like, "if you don't smoke, I will shoot your kneecaps". That's not a choice, it's a dilemma.
But "if you don't smoke, then .. you will be free not to smoke". That's a choice.
People have responsibility to be smart, aware, see what's going on, and to the truth. Furthermore, people can always ask help from the Hand that created them - isn't this what a cosmic messenger told us anyway thousands of years ago?
How can anyone think that breathing smoke into their lungs would _NOT_ be harmful to the health?
You can't protect people from their own stupidity. If they are stupid enough to choose to be stupid, there's nothing you can do - they have the right to be stupid, just as they have the right to be wrong.
To lie is wrong, yes.
To be lied to, is a good, spiritual test. Will you let your greed and lust for 'better life' (or whatever) blind you from the truth, or will you be able to stay calm and see through the lie?
People were not told the truth about cigarettes, but they could have found out without smoking their lungs to death. If you choose to be naive and trust the governments, corporations and other entities that are supposed to be your SERVANTS, not your MASTERS, then you are a fool, and deserve everything that's coming to you.
Nike paying a few cents to its child labourer who works in a second-schedule (or was it 'thousandths-of-a-second'-schedule) is an atrocious and hostile deed, because the corporations first make sure the people are exploitable and have no alternatives, and then give them a dilemma: "starve to death or become our slave".
That's NOT a choice!
That's a dilemma.
But "choose to smoke or not to smoke" is a choice, not a dilemma.
So, although I wish corporations didn't exist, and governments were small and people were intelligent, aware, knowledgeable and vigilant enough to keep them in their proper place at all times, you are wrong about people not smoking them 'willingly'.
Sure, they were manipulated and lied to, but why did they LET themselves be manipulated and why did they BELIEVE the lies? Aren't they supposed to be intelligent, adult human beings instead of childlike, moronic robot-drones who believe and do anything corporations tell them to? Where's the responsibility? Where's the adulthood? How can these kind of people be trusted to be responsible adults in ANY situation?
This is the reason why I don't mind the manipulation and the lying, but I do mind corporations making deals with schools (or vice versa, actually, stupid schools!) to install candy machines and offer basically candy for the students, and make sure there is not much exercize in schools. I do mind that - schools should offer fresh vegetables, fruits as dessert and freshly-made, organic food, not that horrible, processed candy stuff (watch "Super Size Me" for more on this - that one school shows a good example with doing the right thing, which doesn't seem to even cost more).
But at the same time, the students should CARE enough to RESEARCH the information that would help them make INFORMED DECISIONS about what they eat, even at school, surrounded by those shiny corporate madness-temptations. Instead, they are like lazy morons, who simply get what their stupidest impulse says when they are hungry.
It's pretty unbelievable, and the responsibility and blame doesn't go to one party alone, but is shared between the human beings, the corporations, the government and its schools, and so on.
If you don't register your child (law doesn't require anyone to do so), you can give them private schooling, and healthy meals. But it's better not to reproduce at all on a planet like this - it's overpopulated already, and there's enough of these mad apes creating more and more problems every day!
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