in todays society perhaps it is normal (unfortunately). is it justified? no way! at best your thoughts on the matter are hateful and intolerant and in my opinion being hateful and intolerant is not something to be proud of. for the record, i am not a smoker. i experimented with smoking as a teenager and ultimately decided it wasnt for me so my opinion is not that of a biased smoker.
first ill address the financial argument you bring up. i would be willing to bet that smokers cost society less in the long run if you factor in:
a) the amount of tax revenue generated solely from smokers (about $70 million each and every day in the usa, around 25 billion each year)
b) the fact that nonsmokers generally live longer and on average require an additional 8 to 10 years of benefit payouts and medical care.
those two factors alone likely cancel out the cost of smokers vs nonsmokers, if not making smokers the less expensive option. keep in mind that not all smokers even die from smoking related illness. you don't have to take my word for it though, according to the new england journal of medicine, a society comprised entirely of nonsmokers would be more costly than our current society of nonsmokers and smokers.
"http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/337/15/1052"
now that the $$ argument has been addressed, i would like to speak to the hateful attitude you have expressed. i dont believe the money is the biggest factor driving your hate. i believe you are likely looking for any reason that you can find to justify preexisting negative emotions towards smokers. maybe its because of your experience you mention regarding your dad, which is very unfortunate, but that was his choice and it is no other smokers fault. it appears as though you would hate smokers for no other reason than their choice of habit. if what i suggest is not the case and you are really only concerned about the burden they cause you at work (although i suspect that's what you get paid for so no sympathy here on that) and/or their cost to society than why dont you get on about obese people, or heavy alcohol users? i think you should be happy you have what is probably a decent paying job in this economy and do your best to help those people without being so judgmental and resentful towards them.
Is it normal to despise smokers
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in todays society perhaps it is normal (unfortunately). is it justified? no way! at best your thoughts on the matter are hateful and intolerant and in my opinion being hateful and intolerant is not something to be proud of. for the record, i am not a smoker. i experimented with smoking as a teenager and ultimately decided it wasnt for me so my opinion is not that of a biased smoker.
first ill address the financial argument you bring up. i would be willing to bet that smokers cost society less in the long run if you factor in:
a) the amount of tax revenue generated solely from smokers (about $70 million each and every day in the usa, around 25 billion each year)
b) the fact that nonsmokers generally live longer and on average require an additional 8 to 10 years of benefit payouts and medical care.
those two factors alone likely cancel out the cost of smokers vs nonsmokers, if not making smokers the less expensive option. keep in mind that not all smokers even die from smoking related illness. you don't have to take my word for it though, according to the new england journal of medicine, a society comprised entirely of nonsmokers would be more costly than our current society of nonsmokers and smokers.
"http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/337/15/1052"
now that the $$ argument has been addressed, i would like to speak to the hateful attitude you have expressed. i dont believe the money is the biggest factor driving your hate. i believe you are likely looking for any reason that you can find to justify preexisting negative emotions towards smokers. maybe its because of your experience you mention regarding your dad, which is very unfortunate, but that was his choice and it is no other smokers fault. it appears as though you would hate smokers for no other reason than their choice of habit. if what i suggest is not the case and you are really only concerned about the burden they cause you at work (although i suspect that's what you get paid for so no sympathy here on that) and/or their cost to society than why dont you get on about obese people, or heavy alcohol users? i think you should be happy you have what is probably a decent paying job in this economy and do your best to help those people without being so judgmental and resentful towards them.