What is Science Fiction? If I were to go by the billboards and TV spots; the threats of global warming, drug addiction, and violent crime are nothing compared to the evils of tobacco — if you’re not robbed, killed, or struck down by an unprecedentedly large hailstone on your way to buy a pack of cigarettes.
The victim is the lie that you’ve gotten away with. The victim is only a walk-on part. The victim is only the wrapper; the criminal is the candy, the product.
People used to gasp at the irrational logic of “no more than ten to twenty million killed, tops”: welcome to 2022 . . . and the future.