Why I dislike activists

I might as well confess it. I dislike activists. I know that’s a serious thing to say these days. It invites a lot of hatred and when an activist hates you, you are asking for trouble. They can be relentless and sincere about their hatred, which is one of the reasons why I don’t trust activists either. They have a way with words and they circulate what some sectors now call urban rumors.

Computers set the stage for more effective activists. That’s where they circulate all their rumors about soft drinks being bad for your teeth, smoke inhalation killing your children, and all those other things that put fear in the minds of the innocent. How do you decide what you will believe or not? You decide based on the language. Activists have a skill with language.

I don’t do too much with my life these days, or whatever I do I must set to some background noise. So I turn on the TV. Sometimes I watch The Biggest Loser, that TV show on obesity and how to conquer it. There I see some of the causes for all that fat. A few of them drink six liters of regular soft drinks a day. Well, of course they will get obese. That’s so much sugar. You’re not supposed to drink six liters a day for one person. Whose fault is that?

Activists believe it is the fault of soft-drink manufacturers who put the product on the market. Soft-drink manufacturers believe it is the decision of the buyer. No one asks him to drink six liters a day. He can drink a glass, a large bottle, or he can refuse to buy soft drinks. The consumer has the freedom to choose. The difference between the two points of view is giving the consumer the power to choose. If manufacturers of candy, soft drinks, cigarettes, frozen food, canned food, etc., followed the advice of the activists, the consumer’s freedom of choice would be greatly curtailed. Supermarkets and malls would shrink.

I have experience in the world of soft drinks and cigarettes, the two products that top the activist lists. We used to receive a lot of e-mail on soft drinks melting your teeth over a short period of time. The activists took a tooth, left it in a glass of soft drinks and, in I don’t know how many days, the tooth melted, disappeared, gone, dissolved by the soft drink, whose brand changed — sometimes it was Coke, other times Pepsi, other times Dr. Pepper. This infuriated me because consumers did not understand that their teeth would melt only if soaked in soft drinks. Who soaks his teeth in soft drinks? Someone who cannot swallow, who keeps the soft drink in his mouth for the length of time it takes to melt the tooth completely, maybe longer, because in the human mouth there is saliva. If you want to drink soft drinks but keep your teeth, swallow your drink. That’s the way to drink, anyway, you put the liquid in your mouth and then you swallow. It’s the way you drink water. To drink soft drinks and enjoy their sparkling refreshment you need to swallow them.

So many innocent victims out there don’t even realize they are victimized. Last week I wrote about mosquito coils — katol — and their use. I received a text from a young lady asking me where I bought them and then saying that she hoped her children would not die from inhaling the fumes. Another victim of activists who say that inhalation of any kind of smoke — to relate it to second-hand smoke — can be fatal to children. Well, that annoyed me because I was dealing with another consumer who had fallen victim to activists.

Are mosquito coils dangerous to the health of children? Ask your mothers who grew up with mosquito coils burning under the table or somewhere near in a room without air-conditioning, a room where air circulated freely. Is your mother still alive? Because I am still alive and I use mosquito coils. My friends are still alive and they also grew up with mosquito coils as part of their childhood. The majority of the population who grew with on mosquito coils are very much alive.

As response, I said I prefer not to tell you where you can buy them because I don’t want to be blamed if something happens to your children. She did not understand where I was coming from. If you believe that your children could die because of inhaling mosquito coils, don’t buy them. It’s your choice. If you will use mosquito coils in small, enclosed air-conditioned rooms, I don’t know what they will do. If your child has asthma, it might cause an attack. In the end it is your choice. You must take responsibility based on your own judgment and observation. You are a consumer with freedom of choice. 

I think I now know why I dislike activists. They don’t give people much of a choice. For me that’s the biggest individual entitlement — freedom of choice. Like my daughter once wisely said, the freedom to make my own mistakes and learn from them.

* * *

Please send your text to 0917-8155570.