Grow a Pair - It's Time To Be United

I've got something to get off my chest, so this week I am going to have a damn good rant. At the end of the day, I figure that nobody cares less what I think, so I am just going to say what is on my mind. I am going to say this as an indivdual. These views are mine and mine alone. If you don't like what I say, then TOUGH. It needs to be said and I am going to be the one to put my neck on the line and say exactly what I think.

Over the past 7-10 days, I have seen a lot of posts telling how vapers are selling smokers down the river and how smokers do not respect the views of vapers etc etc. What we are seeing is the exact outcome the ANTZ have been looking for. For a long time now, they have been looking to drive a wedge between the smokers and the vapers. For the majority of that time, they have failed. Failed miserably in fact. Then, all of a sudden. the very outcome the ANTZ have looked for has occurred completely spontaneously and without their input ... and I am sure that the ANTZ are absolutely delighted.

I'll be honest. I don't know who fired the first salvo, and in all honesty I don't care. But what I do care about is that all of a sudden, the united front against the lies that the ANTZ continually spout, has suddenly become splintered.

I have no need to name names. You know who you are. All I ask is that you all grow up and stop it at once.

What am I talking about ?

I am talking about the open warfare that has erupted between vapers and smokers through the medium of social media and and blog entries. It simply has to stop and it has to stop NOW !!

I've read bitter Twitter exchanges between people I thought were friends with each other. I've read claims and counter claims through a number of blogs. each telling how they are right and the other side is wrong.

Whether you are a smoker or whether you are a vaper. You will have developed alliances with different people that can help to advance your cause. You are not going to agree with everything those alliances may have to say. In fact, I would be amazed if you all do. However, we each have to fight our own battles and we have to fight them the best way we know how. However one side chooses to do battle with the ANTZ, the other side is not going to necessarily agree with either the tactics, the wording, the alliances or  the method. But the key to all, this regardless of what side you are on, is that we all have the same common enemy.

I was a smoker for over 30 years. I have now been a vaper for almost 3 years. What has not changed is the fact that I am a libertarian. It is my firm belief that that is nobody's business what you (as an individual) decide to do with your life. It is most certainly NOT the business of Government, nor indeed of the ANTZ, how you decide to live your life. If you want to gamble, if you want to booze, if want to smoke or vape, that's YOUR choice. It is nothing to do with Government or the ANTZ how you choose to live your life.

What IS of consequence is the battle we all have with a common enemy. We all know the ANTZ will not rest with getting rid of smokers or vapers. If they won that battle, they would soon find another target to go for. We have already seen hints of this happening with the first stirrings of the war against salt, sugar, obesity. These people have tax-payer funds to defend. If they win one war, then they have to find another to keep the tax-payer funded lifestyle they have grown accustomed to. They don't don't care about health. They don't give a shit whether you are a smoker, vaper, drinker, gambler or whatever else cranks your chain. All you are to these ANTZ is a cash cow. A cash cow that they will milk until it is dry, and when it is dry they will find another target.

So, I don't particularly care what cause you are supporting. All I will say to you all is to grow a pair. I couldn't care less who started it all. This is NOT a school playground. Bickering amongst ourselves will only serve the cause of the ANTZ. The only way they can win is by divide and conquer. An enemy divided is far easier to beat than one that is united. Over the last 12 months, we have seen the ANTZ slowly splintering into ever smaller factions. We were winning the war. Now I am seeing us start to fight amongst ourselves. That is an absolute gift to the ANTZ. They have to tried to manipulate such a situation for years without success. Now we appear to be doing it for them.

All I ask is that whatever our petty differences, remember who our common enemy is. If we splinter now, we will all regret it for years to come. I realise that many of you have developed years of building up respect for what you do for your cause. I respect your cause regardless of whether it a cause I share. I am also fully enveloped in such a cause. But I am humble enough to swallow any pride I may have and understand that we are all united in a fight against a common enemy.

Yes, we will have different ways of fighting our cause. We will also have alliances that others may not approve of. But we all must fight out battle in the way we best deem fit to advance our individual causes. But when all sides have a common enemy (the ANTZ), the last thing we need to be doing is fighting amongst ourselves.

Whatever viewpoint you are coming from, please think on this. There are people amongst the smoking fraternity that I have a lot of respect for. The same can be said on the vaping fraternity (of which I am one). But we all have a common enemy and our venom (for want of a better word) should be directed at that common enemy. Not each other.

I am probably going to be criticised from pillar to post for this blog, but it is something I need to get off my chest. All I ask is that you all think about what is happening and the ammunition we are freely giving to the ANTZ.