Lazy Debate - How Lazy Am I!? (General)

Member Name: I Like Blue

Product:	General
Date:	21/07/04 (141 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A few topics in one opinion, I feel a bit better for doing it

Disadvantages: What a world we live in!

You know, that Jill Murphy has some great ideas and her ?lazy debate? concept is no exception. This is a great opportunity to get a number of things off my chest all in one opinion rather than trying to cover numerous topics individually where, I?m sure, I?d probably just waffle on forever and pad each opinion out to make it look like something presentable.

In fact being such a lazy debater it's taken me this long to contribute! So, here is my collection of short paragraphs about some of those Speaker?s Corner topics I would like to share with you.

? Should Smoking Be Banned In Public Places?

For me there isn?t a straight yes or no answer to the question. My view is that if a person wants such a ban then they should equally want a ban on vehicle and industrial pollution which has much more of an effect on us than smoking does.

Then, if people really are concerned with their health they should check what they eat. If our Nanny State were as vehement in their approach to pollutants and additives in foods and drinks as they seem to be about smoking then I?m sure it would be a different story entirely.

However, whilst I am personally against such a ban I do feel establishments such as Restaurants should be smoking-free zones or down to the discretion of the Restaurant owner. Already we are seeing that there are many ?No Smoking? areas and it seems to be working. What I would prefer to see is more education for, and consideration by, smokers to respect other people?s wishes not to be subjected to smoking as opposed to an ?overnight? complete ban.

Lastly, I can?t see how a Government can criminalise something that they take vast amounts of tax revenue from. I mean why not then also say you can tax and put fuel in your vehicle but you?re banned from driving it on
public roads?

? Motorway Services

If I have to travel anywhere that involves the Motorway I always take my own food and drinks and I?d advise anyone else to do the same as these glorified toilets charge way over the odds for just about everything.

Yes, perhaps these places are quiet in the early hours when there is hardly any traffic but I don?t see that as a reasonable excuse to charge the prices they do to supposedly cover the costs of having to keep services open 24/7. I have often travelled in the early hours and usually the only places open for business on a service station are the forecourt and the restaurant with just a handful of staff.

Motorway Services would do more trade if their prices were lower and I could quite easily tolerate having to pay just a few extra pennies for things as opposed to as it is now where most people refuse to pay such high prices (except those who can claim expenses of course) and only stop to use the toilet.

? Life After Death

There is a part of me that believes that once we die that is it, the end of our existence but then there is another part of me that believes something else.

Personally I don?t believe in the religious theory that we go to either heaven or hell although I do respect other peoples? belief that there is an ?afterlife? in that sense. I tend to think rather differently in that I find it quite remarkable that as human beings we are unique and the enormity of trying to understand our very existence is rather overwhelming. I mean why am I here, in this place and in this time? What I see with my eyes, what I feel, what I experience are unique to me as it is to you, each and every one of you, us.

It is in that trying to understand why that is that I have a feeling that our ?being? is being hosted by the body we live in. O
;nce that body has become decayed and of no use through the life we have lived then, I don?t know where or how, our ?being? leaves the body. I am not convinced that as spectacular as the design of life is, that once we ?die? that is it, finished.

? UK Petrol Prices

Now, getting back to reality for a moment my next topic is about petrol prices. This is going to be a short rant so here goes.

Aside from the tax issues and the enormous profits these petroleum companies make, which, can probably be explained, partly, by what I?m going to write next.

What really gets my goat is when it is announced that the price of a barrel of oil goes up garages up and down the country immediately put up the price of a litre/gallon of fuel. Now, there is no way that every garage receives a delivery of fuel at the new increased price so how the hell do garages get away with charging higher prices for most probably the same fuel from the same pump that was at a lower price prior to the increase?

Then, to infuriate motorists further, when the price of a barrel of oil comes down the price of a litre/gallon of fuel stays high and the new lower price doesn?t immediately get passed on to the motorist.

Grrrr!

? GM and Cloning

I can accept genetically modifying DNA in an attempt to stop birth defects and hereditary diseases and even the cloning of cells/tissue and organs for medical reasons where it would really mean some good is done to save a life, or just as importantly, to save endangered species of animals etc.

However, the cynical side of me thinks that of course it won?t just stop there.

As has already been suggested GM and cloning is an untapped market where, if you can afford it, you can have ?designer? babies, a supply of cells, tissues and organs ?just in case? and ultimately the chance to prolong
life even further (therefore creating an even bigger pensions headache). Of course that?ll come at a ?fashionable? price creating an even bigger divide between those who can and those who can?t pay and as those who are rich enough to ?design? their lives will, knowingly or not, start a ?super? race of human beings, perfect in every way.

Didn?t millions of people lose their lives during World War 2 stopping Hitler doing a similar thing?

If GM and cloning does take that seemingly inevitable course Nature will fight back and get its own way in the end, somehow, to restore the balance, it always does.

? GM Food

In a similar way to GM and cloning I am also cynical about GM foods too.

As much said as there is that GM foods *will* mean an end to famines I can?t help feeling that this is just another way for faceless corporations to exploit countries and amass massive profits that go nowhere but the already bulging bank accounts of the hierarchies of said corporations.

They?ll probably use those profits to fund what I was talking about in GM and cloning.

? UK Taxation

I have a feeling there is a reason why I?ve taken so long to contribute to the lazy debate topic and this is it.

The recent announcement that homes are to be re-banded with new, higher, council tax rates is maddening to say the least. Part of me thinks that this is some way to slow down the trend in increasing house prices. I?m sure homes will now start to be under-valued so they will fall into a cheaper council tax band.

Since Labour have been in power and to the absolute contrary of what they promised the tax burden has become greater and greater over the years. Just about anything we do or buy is taxed to quite staggering levels whilst, for many people, the tax allowances h
ave dwindled and in particular that part of our tax allowance for having children.

Also, what is all that bollocks about with the proposed change in the Road Tax system? Crazy, absolutely crazy!

It seems almost medieval and so much so that I?m expecting a 21st Century style Robin Hood to do what his/her ancestor did all that time ago.

I feel so much better for getting all that off my chest, thanks Jill!

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