Master Index of Archived Threads
Just light the money on fire instead
| Frayed Knot Jul 29 2018 02:10 PM |
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... it's better for your health and probably cheaper in the long run.
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| MFS62 Jul 29 2018 02:23 PM Re: Just light the money on fire instead |
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Here are some happy people:
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| Lefty Specialist Jul 29 2018 03:53 PM Re: Just light the money on fire instead |
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Effect on me, my family and friends = zero. If those horrifying public service announcements didn't work, then raising the cost a bit won't matter.
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| 41Forever Jul 29 2018 04:18 PM Re: Just light the money on fire instead |
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Some of the additional revenue should be set aside for programs to help people quit and break the addiction. Especially if studies show that people with lower income levels are disproportionately affected.
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| Frayed Knot Jul 30 2018 11:02 PM Re: Just light the money on fire instead |
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I remember when we were first learning about the hazards of smoking in grade school one of the things we were told was about how many in our parents' generation smoked because it was addictive and how they simply didn't have the information - the original Surgeon General's report being not all that far in the past at that point. And I remember my 8 y/o (or whatever) self thinking that of course this new info would stop people from starting and therefore it would only be a matter of time until all the hooked smokers died out (of smoking related causes or otherwise) and were replaced by knowledgable citizens until virtually no one smoked. I'm sure I didn't work out the math and have a specific date in mind, but that it would happen that way and would have happened by now seemed only too logical. Well of course the world doesn't work as well as it does in a kid's mind. The article which gave me the $13/pack figure cited the pct of American adults smokers is just a bit over 13% at last report (2016), and while it's good news that that figure is down from 21.5% (2002) a decade and change earlier, I still find it stunning that nearly 1 in 7 adults still smokes some six decades after those first (late-1950s?) reports.
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| Edgy MD Jul 31 2018 01:22 AM Re: Just light the money on fire instead |
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Not that I don't see efficacy in trying to tax a public health hazard into obscurity, but one of the unintended consequences is the rise of the black market, which played no small part in the death of Eric Garner.
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| Frayed Knot Aug 01 2018 01:50 AM Re: Just light the money on fire instead |
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That was actually the main point of the article I read, that illegal ciggies now out-number legal ones in NYC to the point where it's estimated that some 60% of the cigarettes sold are via the black market.
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| Centerfield Aug 02 2018 02:33 PM Re: Just light the money on fire instead |
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Makes all the sense in the world. And then you learn about things like peer pressure, the invincibility felt by teens/20-somethings, and the fact that people are dumb and will do things that feel good no matter how ridiculously dangerous it might be. My brother and his wife are into rock climbing. As if that sport isn't inherently dangerous enough, he told me about the concept of "free soloing". Free soloing is rock climbing with no safety equipment. Essentially, a guy climbs a sheer surface to incredible heights just based on his own skills, and one misstep can lead to your death. These guys die regularly, because, as anyone might guess, rock climbing with no safety equipment is incredibly dangerous and incredibly stupid. My brother says it's basically "drawn out suicide". But that doesn't stop people from doing this. And have you seen these edge walkers? These guys that jump and run on building ledges. Fucking insane.
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| Ceetar Aug 02 2018 02:48 PM Re: Just light the money on fire instead |
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I'd love to see some studies in the future about how much the actual risk plays into the rush. Placebo effect stuff. Like in a few years when we have amazing VR that you can literally do this stuff, run on edges, safely from your living room. I know people will still run on edges like that, and various other risky things to be 'authentic' ,but will there be less? hopefully much less? Does it change if the desire to do that is fueled by mental illness/depression? Like is there a difference between people that are adrenaline junkies versus people that are depressed and just looking to feel? Will the placebo effect of VR on the edge be enough? (Hell, I am/was afraid of heights and even 25 years ago remember going to a big IMAX screen of one of those fly over type shows and feeling the same panic) Can VR be used to treat some of these things? More specifically, can Augmentative Reality do it? Like, if you're anxious in large crowds, can AR be used to filter out people so that you're calmer or skin over buildings with blue sky? Will you be able to install a skin to your AR device so that NYC sidewalks and streets are mountain cliffs and chasms? If you're claustrophobic can your AR glasses make elevators wide open? I know I just changed the subject again but damn the future's gonna be a weird place.
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| MFS62 Aug 02 2018 04:20 PM Re: Just light the money on fire instead |
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Pure Darwin Award stuff waiting to happen. Later
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| Frayed Knot Aug 02 2018 07:01 PM Re: Just light the money on fire instead |
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60 MINUTES did a piece, maybe two years ago, on the guy who's (currently) at the top of the free-solo world (forget his name). I actually saw the thing twice as they ran it again during re-run season, and both times watching it my palms were a dripping mess and I was the one with my butt cheeks velcro-ed to the couch cushions.
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| MFS62 Aug 02 2018 07:22 PM Re: Just light the money on fire instead |
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We know. The video went viral. Later
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| Centerfield Aug 02 2018 07:25 PM Re: Just light the money on fire instead |
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So if you're #2 in this sport, the idea is to just stay alive long enough for the leader to die.
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| Frayed Knot Aug 02 2018 07:41 PM Re: Just light the money on fire instead |
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A strategy which sometimes takes several months before it pays off.
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