This letter is in response to Megan Joy’s letter Smoke-free restaurants, bars a logical step for Mich. (SN 4/16). The issue of forcing all restaurants and bars to become smoke-free is not an issue of her personal preference or of statewide economic concerns, as she would have the reader believe. It is simply an issue of private property, government intrusion and capitalism.
If I own a bar, I have the right to have any legal activity I wish occur inside it. I am not forcing anyone, neither consumer nor employee, to be at my bar. The government has no right to invade my personal property and tell me what I can or cannot do in the facility that I bought, as long as everything that happens at my bar is legal — and as far as I know, smoking a cigarette is legal.
This situation is a perfect example of how capitalism and a free market can solve a problem without government interference. If someone does not like a smoking atmosphere, they have the option to support a smoke-free institution. As a bar owner, my goal would be to maximize profits. If I notice that consumers are leaving my bar for a smoke-free bar, it would then be in my best interest to make my bar smoke-free. This issue is best left to the free market, which will handle it more efficiently than the government. I mean, has anyone driven on the public roads lately?
Eric Awerbuch
philosophy sophomore
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