If we must kill tobacco executives in the name of media attention, what
about the rest of the "corporate planet". Tobacco is merely the current
"sexy" corporate sector to despise. But what about the other 99.9% of
the other major businesses?
Should Nike's executives "swing" because a child's parent chose to
purchase this year's cross trainer instead of putting food on the table?
Should we burn leaders of the pharmaceutical corporations at the stake
when they knowingly have natural alternatives at 1/10th the cost yet
choose to kill people with their products that are more often than not
toxic in other ways?
I don't believe that advertising is necessarily at fault here (though I
agree, it is not usually in the public interest). While mis- or
non-information abounds, the minimal "truths" about tobacco have
generally not led to the demise of tobacco. At what point is the public
responsible for informing, and indeed acting upon that information for
themselves? Minimal courses in memetics as a requirement for schooling,
perhaps?
- Marc