July 30, 2001

 

YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH

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U.S. economic growth is at an eight year low, a 14-year-old boy who murdered his favorite teacher is sentenced, amnesty proposals are being touted for illegal aliens, and Congressman Gary Condit is interviewed by the police a fourth time. These are only a few of the big stories of the past week. But what current event do you think is getting the most points on the outrage scale from the major media?

Would you believe it concerns a recently issued report, the conclusions of which are about as intuitively obvious as you could possibly imagine? I'm referring, of course, to a study done by elite consultant Arthur D. Little, commissioned by Phillip Morris Companies, Inc.

The study concluded that the financial benefits to the Czech Republic government from duties and taxes paid by consumers, importers and tobacco businesses outweighed the costs of health care, lost working days and fires caused by cigarettes.

On top of that, it cited the "indirect positive effects" of early deaths: savings on health care, pensions, welfare and housing for the elderly. The government's net gain from the tobacco industry was $146 million, the study found.

Let's see. Everyone knows by now that smoking is a killer, right? So, more smoking means fewer old people, and that translates into lower government expenses, especially for a socialistic, heavy smoking country such as Czechoslovakia. What a surprise.

Somehow, though, the rather prosaic nature of this finding is lost on the arts and croissants crowd...

Bob Herbert of the New York Times opined that "Once you buy into the moral treachery of the Philip Morris position, the potential for human sacrifice as a matter of public economic policy becomes explicit, and maybe even compelling."

Gee, Bob, have you ever heard of abortion? At least the people who smoke have made their own decision on an early demise.

Derek Z. Jackson of the Boston Globe wrote on article entitled, "When Death Is The Bottom Line," comparing Phillip Morris with the HMO's. Jackson calls them Health Misanthrope Organizations, presumably because they won't spend unlimited money on unproven treatment methods, and are against "universal health care."

As always, it's easy to advocate spending other people's money. But, Derek, you might ask the Gen-Xers how they feel about supporting millions of sick, aging baby boomers. Better yet, ask Gen-Xers how they feel about buying your newspaper, since last time I checked, people under 30 were not real heavy purchasers or even readers of printed news media. That means your demographics are headed straight into the toilet. How do your advertisers feel about that?

Quick, Derek, should the Gen-Xers spend their hard-earned money on your paper or someone else's health care? Now, who's mercenary? By the way, does your paper accept ads from Phillip Morris?

Then, there was the reaction of Phillip Morris itself to the public release of the report's findings. "We understand that this was not only a terrible mistake, but that it was wrong," Steven Parrish, a Phillip Morris senior vice president, told The Wall Street Journal. "To say it's totally inappropriate is an understatement."

Am I missing something here? It was more than a mistake, it was also wrong? If this is what emanates from a senior executive at a major company, aided and abetted by a full PR staff, why complain about today's teenagers? And, since the report merely stated the obvious, exactly what is inappropriate? Telling the truth?

How ironic that those same pundits who ridicule religious faith, can buy into the notion of bogeymen and hobgoblins, being represented this week by Phillip Morris and the evil tobacco industry.


 

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