Actually, if one has the required skill sets and/or education and experience they are readily hired, no matter their age. At 68 I still get employment offers albeit, from companies which are not overly concerned with my personal habits, only in my work ethic, skills and knowledge.
If the trend of politicians attacking smokers is to be slowed, small groups of like minded people, such as the members of this board, need to get active in the selection of elected officials. This means forming political action committees with moneys enough to get the attention of candidates and/or becoming leaders of local Dem and Republican party organizations.
Sitting in front of the computer, bemoaning the state of the state, has no effect on politics. The only way to change current situation is to develop medical evidence that shows smoking to be beneficial and can refute current beliefs, or, and this would be really hard, change the mind set of the majority of voters so that "individual responsibility," as opposed to the social state mindset, becomes the predominate belief of the voter. Most voters, and activists, today favor the idea that the state is the answer to all problems and that the wishes of the majority should be the rule and not a Democratic Republic where the rights of the minority need to be protected.
The most effective method of changing the way the majority think is to bombard them with "the message." In order to pull this off a lot of money (billions of moneys) would have to be available for research and a long campaign of advertising. All of which would have to be sophisticated enough, as opposed to the "global warming" people, that the campaign would not be open to rational attack.
In the current political environment smokers are not relevant! We do not vote in a sufficiently large block, nor do we provide the funds to be relevant to a politician running for office. I suspect things will not change, with regard to tobacco and smokers, too much demonizing, insufficient numbers and moneys to make a change.
We smokers are most likely permanently reduced to wringing our hands and preaching to the choir on the internet. Smokers are too disorganized and ineffectual a minority of the electorate to be accorded any weight in the political process. Just looking over the some of the various postings here indicates that the membership runs the gamut from nihilists to socialists and everything in between. Hardly the cohesive grouping necessary assault and change public opinion as it exists today.
