A Critique of “Thank You for Smoking….?”
Peter Brimelow’s article “Thank You for Smoking….?” is an essay that looks at a rather extreme perspective on smoking. Brimelow starts off by describing the many actions that are taken against the tobacco industry; he writes that in some states, the government is trying to make the tobacco industry pay certain health care costs. However, he then goes on to state that smoking may actually be good for one’s health. He uses various sources to show that smoking has positive effects on our bodies; he states the decrease in risk in numerous diseases. Brimelow uses medical journals to show that smoking decreases the risk of diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. He also talks about some of
…show more content…
Brimelow follows up his major claim with a number of minor claims throughout the essay. A minor claim is a secondary claim, one where the arguer is trying to make a point to support his major claim (McFadden 40). Minor claims are important because they strengthen your main point, or your major claim. His first minor claim is actually a rebuttal claim, which is “a claim that refutes the counterclaim” (McFadden 42). He compares smoking-related deaths per year to car-related deaths, saying they are similar. He states that both are a danger to a person’s health, but in many cases the reward outweighs the risk (Brimelow 141). He also compares the number between car-related and smoking-related deaths, but this hurts his claim because the number of smoking- related deaths is ten times greater than car-related deaths. So far Brimelow’s essay is a little weak because so far he has failed to give us enough information to support his argument.
Then as a second minor claim, Brimelow goes on to discuss the advantages of smoking. He shows us that smoking decreases the risk in various diseases, such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, prostate cancer and a few others. He also says that smoking lowers the rates of certain lung disorders and
The complex question that was asked in the post was, “What are the consequences the city of New York will face by raising the smoking age to twenty-one?” This paper will discuss the multifaceted controversial subject facing the New York City residents; those ages eighteen through twenty-one and many merchants around the city. Multiple opinions show why this bill is a very good decision when looking at the health at these eighteen to twenty-one year olds in addition to the city’s youth. When another argument shows the financial hardships going to be felt because this bill passed legislation. Then, there are those making claims about someone that is adult enough to go to war for our country should be adult enough to smoke.
Smoking is an activity that has been around for many years for people to use and adapt into their lifestyle. It is a tool that many people use to help reduce the stresses of life and put them in a comfortable position that enables them to cope with the hectic lifestyle they are living. However, smoking has been scientifically proven to cause many types of cancer, the most common being lung cancer resulting in numerous deaths across the United States. According to BBC, "Smoking is a greater cause of death and disability than any single disease" (BBC, 2). Evidently, the benefits and drawbacks of smoking have been debated for many years, and only recently have some countries have placed a ban in public places such as Britain and the United
This essay will consider how each of the 5 psychological perspectives explain smoking. I will cover the psychodynamic, the behaviouristic, the biological, the cognitive and the humanistic approach.
The film ‘Thank you for Smoking’ is a dark comedy where the primary protagonist, Nick Naylor is a lobbyist. He talks for the cigarette industry and will not extra the American Authorities or even the press. At the in advance, the film prominently tackles all these topics but deep down it also portrays the partnership between a dad and a son.
Dr. David L. Katz, A clinical professor of public health, and director of the prevention research center at Yale University School of Medicine expresses his opinion on public smoking in the following passage.
Regardless of consumer belief, smoking dramatically increases the chances of contracting many diseases - such as heart disease or high blood pressure. Although not every user experiences these diseases, it is well known that smoking can decrease one’s life time dramatically. The information given states, “It’s virtually impossible to escape the effects of tobacco” (Jordan). This stated, Jordan expresses that essentially if you use tobacco, there is a fairly high chance that one will damage his/her body in some way. Furthermore, there are many more diseases that can be contracted and the ones stated are only the most common. Continuing, the author explains the affects of smoking, “Expose to specific elements of secondhand smoke causes blood clot more easily and damages arterial lining” (Jordan). As stated, certain components in tobacco increase the chances of high blood pressure and blood clots to form in the body. Concluding, respiratory problems in young children can occur through second hand smoking, these include asthma. Children that asthma effect increases from smoke, “Asthma turns out to be about twice as common in children exposed to high levels of second hand smoke” (Secondhand Smoke: Is it a Hazard). Not only does tobacco smoke increase other diseases, it also increases the severity of diseases already contracted as shown in the previous quote. To conclude, tobacco smoke
The film Thank you for Smoking was produced in 2005 by TYFS Productions LLC and is a satirical comedy that follows the machinations of Big Tobacco's chief spokesman, Nick Naylor, who spins on behalf of cigarettes while trying to remain a role model for his twelve-year-old son. This film compares to a few of the readings that we have been studying in this class recently. Seeing the plot of the film in relation to the court case studies has helped me fully grasp the goings on of the court of law.
People that smoke are the people that get all the unhealthy stuff in a body like cancer and many diseases that can be caused.“If smoking persists at the current rate among young adults in this country, 5.6 million of today’s Americans younger than 18 years of age are projected to die prematurely from a smoking-related illness. Another 100,000 were babies who died of sudden infant death syndrome (often referred to as SIDS) or complications from prematurity, low birth weight, or other conditions caused by parental smoking, particularly smoking by the mother. “Smoking has been around for a long time. The problem with smoking became worse when “production climbed markedly when another cigarette-making machine was developed in the 1880s by James Albert Bonsack, which vastly increased the productivity of cigarette companies, which went from making about 40,000 hand-rolled cigarettes daily to around 4 million.” Smoking is a problem around the world because it causes lung cancer, many other cancers, and some horrible diseases. This problem should be solved because “More than 10 times as many U.S. citizens have died prematurely from cigarette smoking than have died in all the wars fought by the United States during its history.”
The movie, “Thank You for Smoking” is a comedy with a tobacco industry lobbyist, Nick Naylor as the lead. The movie has an eerie comic theme which tackles the serious issue of the addicting substance of tobacco, or to be more specific, nicotine. The idea which the movie was trying to portray was that this lobbyist was a great speaker who is able to manipulate many a feeble-mind. A lobbyist, to begin with, is one who is employed to persuade all-concerned of the employer’s concern(s), in this case, the marketing of tobacco products.
The satire “Thank You for Smoking” uses both devices of burlesque and reductio ad absurdum. In the sense of them using reductio ad absurdum, the movie plays into the idea that cigarettes are good for you even though the director never made it pro or anti smoking. It was used with the intention of showing the extreme lengths the tobacco companies go to defend their products and then trying to get them integrated into teen life. For example, with the 50 million dollar campaign ad saying that smoking is bad for you, causing the teens to rebel against the society which explains that the mass will fall for almost anything that you feed to them because advertisements control almost everything we do in the sense of purchasing. Also, the movie used
A. Second hand smoke causes just as many of the same health issues to those around a smoker and as could be produced in the smoker. As reported by the Center for Disease Control, illness from smoking ranges from lung cancer, ischemic heart disease, and chronic airway obstruction as well as shortening a person's lifespan averaging 13.2 years for me and 14.5 years for women (National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion). These are risks that many smokers know may just be regurgitated facts, but is not hearing them once more another chance to decide that health is better than a cigarette? Much of the health issues that society deals with today would be greatly decreased if more and more people began to quit smoking.
Smoking is an expensive habit. People who smoke cigarettes can spend as much as $2,500 a year on them. Smokers’ claim that it helps relax them and it releases stress but the negative aspects of smoking outweigh the positive. Smoking is a health hazard for smokers and non-smokers. Smokers should have the right to choose what to do with their own health but they should respect non-smokers. Many people believe that there are good and bad outcomes from smoking. I believe that smoking is bad and that it should be banned.
Brimelow states in his article that people could quit smoking and still die of a
The side of smoking that is rarely published will be explored in this paper. The side that only a smoker knows, not the side the governments and health agencies provide the news media with. This information is valuable because it is not very well exposed to the world. This essay will answer the question, “Why do you smoke cigarettes?”.
Thesis Statement: Smoking has many dangerous effects on a smoker 's health and the health of those around them; it harms every organ in the body and leads to premature death.