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That's a good reason why I don't want a national health care plan. That way, people can have the freedom of choice to slowly kill themselves and I don't have to pay for it

I see the smiley, but I still have to chime in and say that this would be a bad argument if you *were* serious (because some people actually take this view).


Well, it does seem that the more a government pays for your health care, the more right they have to legislate that you be healthy. Just protecting their investment, don't you know? It doesn't seem too much of a stretch that a fully nationalized system could attempt to institute all sorts of bans as well as prohibitions on certain types of behavior -- all in the name of public health and reducing costs.


Now as regards the smoking bans in particular, I was a little disappointed that they ended the tenure of those trendy martini-and-cigar bars of the mid-to-late-90's. (Those places were fun!) But I soon got over it. Now whenever I go to a state which has smoky bars or restaurants where they ask "smoking or non-smoking" I do a double-take in surprise. It's kind of like the smoking ban on airplanes. It seems weird that I can remember a time when there were smoking sections on airplanes. Nowadays that just seems so anachronistic (like smoking in the movie theaters of the 20's and 30's).