West Lafayette Smoking Ordinance #2

Tonight is the second reading for the smoking ban. I'm going for something a little more philosophical in my approach this time because the last meeting dissolved into a mess. No one there had any concept of what rights, justice, and liberty are. They were arguing as though this were an issue of equally valid claims that needed to be finely compromised to get the maximum amount of satisfaction for everyone (including those that don't deserve it at the expense of those that do). This is what I had prepared to say:


We are not granted rights out of generosity. As the founding fathers knew, rights result directly from man's nature, and the character of man is such that he must act in order to secure his life. This concept of 'right' is exemplified by an American's stated unalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. You may note that actual gratification is not guaranteed; the act of pursuing values and by implication, the consequences of those actions are.

The merchants of West Lafayette have a right to their business and the operations of such by virtue of the fact that they own it. Desiring a smoke-free environment on someone else's property does not mean you have the right to it. And inviting the general public onto one's property does not imply the public has any right to the property or it's functions, it is not a 'public place' no matter that you call it such. So let us clarify this legislation, it is not the needs or desires of business that you are compromising, but their rights, for the desires of others. In judging this bill you are not balancing equally valid interests, you are balancing the rights of some citizens with the wishes of others.

Another point, the rightness or wrongness of enacting this legislation has nothing to do with the decisions of other governmental bodies. The purpose of legislation and enforcement is to protect individual rights, previously defined as derived from the nature of man. The decisions of neither Madison, nor Bloomington, nor Montana, nor 85% of the population can change the nature of man and his rights. The opinion of no person or group can change the fact that this legislation makes children out of citizens.

Update [4.3.2006 - after the council meeting]: The proposed ordinance passed 5-1. I'm going to stay out of politics from now on. I haven't got the stamina for beating my head against a wall.