No longer proud to be a Canadian |
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March 13, 2000 "THE LAST STRAW" Sent to:
I never thought I'd find myself writing a letter like this one. I never thought I'd see myself as an angry, get-down-and-dirty fighter, ready to strangle a bunch of people who consider themselves to be so high and mighty they can affect the very course of my life by making a decision and passing laws based on a choice of legal lifestyle that they consider to be 'unhealthy' for me, namely 'smoking'. No regard was given as to how these laws infringe on my life and lifestyle; laws that are based on pure, unmitigated lies that are being spoon-fed to the 'naïve' public in order to create a mode of thinking that brings to mind the days of Hitler and his full-scale attack on the Jews, and other minorities, based on racial 'uncleanliness'. In fact, being a highly sensitive, non-confrontational individual who has always prided herself on being a decent, God-fearing, diplomatic, law-abiding citizen and who has always tried to help others, I am so ashamed to admit that I live in a country that is currently bordering on the fringe of fascism that it makes my stomach turn. Where once I used to tell people what a wonderful country I live in, now I find myself warning these same people to stay away because the current wave of governmental infringement on the rights of people, like myself, has just gone too far. They profit so lucratively from the sale of a legal product, while simultaneously demoralizing the very people who pay the taxes on that product by accusing them of being 'child-killers' and denying them access to any public establishments; it's impossible to enjoy the 'free' lifestyle that Canada used to be so noted for endorsing. It is the height of unfairness and, for me, the last straw. You, they and/or whoever is responsible for making my life and those like me a living hell by passing such radical laws, have managed to transform me from a peaceful, soft-spoken person to one who is now willing ready and prepared to fight back with anything and everything I can muster and go to jail if need be to justify my actions. I am now avidly committed to, and in the process of, uniting the thousands of smokers who share my views and teaching them how to fight back. We smokers are an ever-growing group of angry, frustrated people who also pay taxes and work hard for this Country yet find ourselves being punished like little children because the government who loves our money, but doesn't like our smoke, thinks it can dictate healthy 'choices' for us (it certainly knows what's best [monetarily] for them). It's about time the politicians were put in their places and made to see the light. Once a blood donor, I refuse to donate blood any more because my blood is obviously 'tainted' by smoking -- why would anyone so adamantly against me as a smoker, be willing to accept it? More importantly, why should I feel so inclined to be nice to those who are being so unfair to me? I no longer fill out that part of my driver's license which asks me to donate my organs because, of course, they too are, according to all the medical establishments, 'diseased' with tobacco. And, again, why would I want to help those who are oppressing me? Part of what I am telling other smokers is just what I've mentioned above. Don't do jury duty -- after all, we are 'addicts' and disabled thus we cannot be counted upon to deliver a 'fair verdict'. If I am asked to participate as a juror, I will simply tell them that I cannot, based on the fact that it would be to 'their' detriment to allow me in my 'addicted state', to make any kind of rational decision. Furthermore, since I can no longer smoke in a public place, courtrooms included, why would I even put myself through the hassle of suffering for hours in order to help in any way the very society that has been so turned against me? Because smokers still have the right to vote (and I fear that if things progress the way they do, the powers that be will try to take that right away from us too) I have every intention of making my political views known. Hell, I may even run for office myself. I know I'd get lots of support from the smokers who are ready right now to start fighting back. Any individual given the right set of circumstances will. As a Canadian who has lived, worked and paid taxes in Toronto my entire life and up until a few years ago, felt proud to call myself a Canadian because our Country used to represent a land of freedom and democracy, I am literally appalled at the way things have changed in the past decade. I look around now and think that any other country in the world, including those that are considered 'communistic', 'barbaric', 'third-world', etc. are far more appealing than Canada. I know there are many more people like myself who are feeling the same way. Widowed at the young age of 31 and with a daughter to raise on my own, I began my own business of writing resumes for people. This has resulted in getting many people jobs and I have been proud to be making such a valid contribution to society -- but when that very society turns around and points a finger at my legal habit of smoking, passing laws that make it impossible for a single person to meet others or go anywhere to enjoy socializing, which is difficult enough as it is to do as a 'single' entity, - that's got to be the most despicable thing any group of people could impose on someone like myself. Not only have these laws managed to eat away at my self esteem by effectively putting me in the same bracket as a 'leper' or 'criminal', they have changed my attitude towards this society in such a negative way. England's Prime Minister Tony Blair wrote a famous piece called "The Third Way" in which he stated that Liberalism would be committing political suicide by getting involved in issues essentially relating to 'life-style'. The reason for this would be the radicalization of large sections of the voting public. We've already seen the phenomenon in Canada with the loss of former Health Minister David Dingwall and the entire Liberal constituency of Nova Scotia in the last Federal election, the former Mayor of Toronto, the single-digit approval rating of B.C.'s N.D.P. government; and, according the media reports, the loss in the crucial South Carolina Primary, of John McCain, due to the efforts of the National Smokers Alliance. As Canada's National Post Newspaper once editorialized, "More people smoke in this Country, than vote Liberal". Before the smoking issue became politicized, I was a loyal Liberal. Now, not only am I going to actively vote for some other party, but I will utilize my Internet site to encourage others to do likewise with the unflattering comparison of the smoking policy of Hitler's Germany whose goal was "a secure and sanitary Utopia". Bayla, |
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