There is an interesting epidemic spreading throughout our culture.  It seems that society is becoming more and more dependent on government policies for protection.

Case in point: A local push to ban smoking in all public places throughout my city.

I’m not a smoker; never have been, never will be.  However I understand that there are people that have been drawn into the habit and locked into the lifestyle choice.  Who am I to tell them how to live their lives? On the other hand, I also get annoyed when I go to a local establishment for dinner and have to strip off my smoke infested clothes before I enter my own house.  I can’t imagine what my lungs are thinking…

While I really get irritated about the atmosphere (pun intended), I understand fully that it’s my choice to frequent these establishments, and if I don’t want to get fumigated, I could very easily go elsewhere.

Do I really need the local government to ban smoking as a city wide effort to drive smokers elsewhere?

I expect my local government to provide a clean and healthy place to live.  However, I’d hate to have the government come in and tell me that I can’t allow my customers to smoke in my establishment (especially if I owned a place like, say, a bowling ally).

It seems we’re living in a culture dependent on others to take care of us.

We’re living in an interesting world. We’ve got so much information at our fingertips that unless you’re fixated on the television or computer, the rest of the world could seemingly pass you by in a matter of seconds.

But is this a good thing?

While we are bombarded with information 24/7, we can only process so much of it in any given amount of time. And then act on that little tidbit of information? Forget it, you’re too busy taking in more…

Kevin Kelly wrote a good post about the steady increase in information.  The number of emails, telephone conversations, photographs taken… they’ve all increased exponentially over time.  One person could argue that our increase in productivity is a result of this fact, but another could argue that our productivity is the cause.