Quote:
Originally Posted by Geoffrey Collier
BA Ware: So we agree that smoking is detrimental to health. .
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Cant remember anyone saying it wasn't.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Geoffrey Collier
The economic cost of smoking, cannot be supported by using research statistics generated in another country. Slight error there.
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Thats great news so we can discount all of the smoking studies that have been done in other countries.
Also do you dispute healthy people live longer therefore cost the state more.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Geoffrey Collier
Mortality statistics are class related. Higher the social class, longer the life expectancy. The higher social groups pay higher taxation during their working lives, so that would have to form part of any calculation to arrive at those conclusions which you are trying to achieve.
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Theres also a lot of rich people that use tax avoidance loopholes as well unlike your average Joe.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Geoffrey Collier
The lower social groups are more dependent upon State support, during their lives, than the higher social groups. (That is certainly not intended to be a criticism).
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I see you choose to use extremes and totally ignore the vast majority of middle income earners who don't get state support of which there are plenty of smokers
Quote:
Originally Posted by Geoffrey Collier
Public houses are on the decline, thousands have disappeared over recent years. The reasons are complex, demographic change, economics, breathalysers, home consumption, competing attractions, a million reasons. The small pub, like the small workshop, appears to be in terminal decline.
The small shop, likewise, is being being replaced. Giant supermarkets, large
pubs of the wetherspoon type, are on the ascendancy. Those changes, like many changes, will confer advantage and disadvantage: that is the nature of change. Talking in terms of fascist, Stalinists, and the like, as some do, is hardly rational or relevant.
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You seem to be missing the point, 1700 pubs have closed since the smoking ban, in 2006 it was 500 most of these were small independent pubs.
The point here Geoffrey is the government forced PRIVATE establishments to ban smokers from there premises there was no demand for it or market forces would have prevailed, how can you say that is not fascist.