Florida Lynch Mob (Sorry, Jury) Takes Aim At Tobacco

A man who started smoking well after the federal government (unconstitutionally) banned cigarette advertising from the broadcast media died from his habit in 1996, and his widow blamed R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company for negligently failing to discourage him from consuming their perfectly legal product. In a saner era, such a claim would have been laughed out of court as either failing to state a cause of action or, alternatively, trumped by ironclad defenses of contributory negligence and assumption of risk.

In the modern world, however, nobody is ever to blame for his own errors in judgment. We inhabit an era not of personal responsibility, but of interpersonal liability, a despicable and socialistic mindset that drove a Florida jury to penalize R.J. Reynolds to the tune of $23.6 billion. The fact that cigarettes have been known as "coffin nails" since the 19th century is irrelevant. The fact that the deceased chose to smoke despite ubiquitous governmental warnings about the dangers of doing so is irrelevant. The fact that it is entirely possible to quit smoking and that there are more ex-smokers than smokers is irrelevant. All that matters is that the big, bad company was brought to heel.

If anyone wants to know why the economy is tanking, this story alone holds a big clue. You cannot maintain First World living standards with Third World lawlessness and irresponsibility. If America is going to emulate the Third World, I might as well just move to a Third World country that spares me the empty rhetoric of liberty and justice. As Lincoln once remarked: 

I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty – to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.