Gum Chewing: A Most Filthy, Disgusting Habit

Another Instance Where Other People's Liberties Harms the Rest of Us

Gum chewing is a filthy, disgusting habit. Almost invariably, people who partake in this revolting habit never do so with their mouths closed. These people, utterly lacking of any sort of upbringing, chew gum with their mouths open, reducing them to something about on par with farm animals. Decades ago it would have been unthinkable for people to chew gum in any professional working environment, but now it is commonplace.  Fortunate are those who can listen to music on headphones in the presence of such crude vulgarians, but listening to music protects no one from the sight not unlike a cow chewing on grass, except one rather likes cows, which is more than one can say for these cretins.

It is so noxious that it is one of many considerations that convinces this author that a less free, more authoritarian society is more desirable, that excess freedom is our ruin. And that is because authoritarianism could properly ban this social pariah. Singapore is evidence of this. While an absolute ban on chewing gum was sadly lifted there, the import, sale, and possession of chewing gum is tightly regulated. This deters the habit. This coupled with stern punishments for a variety of gum related offenses, including spitting gum on the street or sidewalk, allows the citizens of Singapore and visitors from abroad to walk the streets free from unsightly gum spots on the pavement. It just comes to show that so very often less freedom is more.

Most of society no longer tolerates chewing tobacco or people eating sunflower seeds in their shells, although the fact such products are available for purchase is troubling. So it should be with chewing gum. Ban chewing gum altogether, the production, sale, and possession of it, so people can go about their lives, whether at work or elsewhere in public, without someone chewing gum like a cow; so we can all walk down the street, unburdened by unsightly gum stains all over the place, or the sights and sounds of people chewing gum like the animals they are.