It would be nice if we could let scientists settle scientific controversies with science – but they don’t have the power to do so.
I hate cigarette smoke. If you smoke in the car in front of me with your window down, I am going to suffer. But I respect your right to tell me it is all psychosomatic. For all you see in your rear-view mirror, I’m just singing along with a whiny, acid rock song on the radio. I’m a big person. I can adjust as easily as I can slam on my brakes for people who think their right to get home and kick off their shoes trumps the right of everybody else to get to their firm appointments on time, and so they drive into any car that won’t get out of their way. People get in the way. That’s what we do.
So, to show I can be a big person and that I practice the libertarianism I preach, I will let you know about a star-studded gala that will be covered by C-SPAN. The next Shaftesbury Society Luncheon has the title “Unlikely Strike.” It will be on the right to smoke, which I believe you have, even if it inconveniences me now and then – just like Moogfest doesn’t have a right to receive public money no matter how much I enjoy it.
If you want to learn, or if you only want to try to get your face on TV, you may get your ticky-tickies here.