Throughout the course of evolution species have made various displays of prominence to attract mates. The put up symbols of status to outwardly communicate that they have the genes to create plenty and feed many. In the peacock for example it is bright colored feathers that signifies that the male is healthy. Now the human species does roughly the same thing whether it is a particulate car you drive or item you wear or rims on your ride. It signals that you are a baller and have money left over for luxury so come and next with me.
I was thinking of this in context of the recent hikes in cigarettes. I wonder if smoking will soon gain status as a luxury item that can only be enjoyed by fewer and fewer people and if this luxury status will in fact attract more people to smoking in the future.
At the very least what the heavy tax is going to do is cause the black market to be flooded with knock off imitation cigarettes made abroad.
5 comments:
I was wondering the same thing. Five bucks for a pack of smokes does tend to make them a luxury item or a status symbol. I can hear the cries of elitism from some already -- oooh, look at him smoking those fancy cigarettes, probably buys organic milk and arugula too.
Ugh! Dont let Big Tobacco get ahold of you now..They'll hire you on to be their new spokesman.
I do agree though that we are more similiar than we think to animals in terms of attracting mates. Just the other day, I saw a hot guy driving a sweet 7 series bmw...and YES, his feathers were definitely bright..and fluffy too.
Like any other drug, the black market will move in, especially with China pumping out those knock offs.
smokes are around $10/pack here i think.
So....? what do you drive?
Yep, black market, unregulated cigarette manufacturing is a burgeoning business.
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