http://www.jonbarron.org/blog/2009/06/major_life_insurers_support_to.html Mon, 06 Sep 2010 03:48:31 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 http://www.jonbarron.org/blog/2009/06/major_life_insurers_support_to.html/comment-page-1#comment-3158 AJ Fri, 19 Jun 2009 20:40:03 +0000 http://www.jonbarron.org/blog/2009/06/major-life-insurers-support-tobacco-industry-health-blog.html#comment-3158 I love your work, Jon, and I think you are doing great things for the world. But if people want to smoke, that's their choice. The tobacco companies don't force anyone to buy their products. I think it's time we stop babying people and let people take responsibility for themselves. On the one hand, Jon, you rightly argue (in "The Thought that Kills") that stress is killing us, but on the other hand this article makes you seem against the idea of personal responsibility - which is probably the biggest factor in eliminating stress. It's because people are babied that they never grow up, and end up having to face adult situations as immature children, leading to all the stress due to feelings of no control over themselves. As for the insurance companies, they are just hedging themselves effectively. Why not attack all other tobacco shareholders? Why single out insurance companies? Do you realize that, as intelligent business managers they have chosen to invest in tobacco companies because they believe it is most advantageous to their bottom line to do so? I'm sure you do. But if that's true, then that also means that if they were to stop this practice because it is unpopular, they will be forced - all things being equal - to raise their rates and lower their payouts, hurting sick people and the next of kin of the deceased. As a business owner yourself, and I might add a very keen observer of reality, I think you'd realize that we should be careful to note not only the seen, but also the unseen. I love your work, Jon, and I think you are doing great things for the world. But if people want to smoke, that’s their choice. The tobacco companies don’t force anyone to buy their products.
I think it’s time we stop babying people and let people take responsibility for themselves. On the one hand, Jon, you rightly argue (in “The Thought that Kills”) that stress is killing us, but on the other hand this article makes you seem against the idea of personal responsibility – which is probably the biggest factor in eliminating stress. It’s because people are babied that they never grow up, and end up having to face adult situations as immature children, leading to all the stress due to feelings of no control over themselves.
As for the insurance companies, they are just hedging themselves effectively. Why not attack all other tobacco shareholders? Why single out insurance companies? Do you realize that, as intelligent business managers they have chosen to invest in tobacco companies because they believe it is most advantageous to their bottom line to do so? I’m sure you do. But if that’s true, then that also means that if they were to stop this practice because it is unpopular, they will be forced – all things being equal – to raise their rates and lower their payouts, hurting sick people and the next of kin of the deceased. As a business owner yourself, and I might add a very keen observer of reality, I think you’d realize that we should be careful to note not only the seen, but also the unseen.

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