Thank You for Smoking

Last night I had dinner with DH3 and then he and I joined Rob to see Thank You for Smoking:

A Satirical comedy [which] follows the machinations of Big Tobacco's chief spokesman, Nick Naylor, who spins on behalf of cigarettes while trying to remain a role model for his twelve-year-old son. (view trailer)

TYfS was both thought provoking and entertaining. Not sure about y'all, but I had not previously seen Rob Lowe in a a kimono. At the film's conclusion Rob asked me what I thought and I said, "I am glad I believe in the work I do." The lesson i took from the movie: you can struggle to make excuses for the work you do, you can probably even succeed at it, but you can choose something you don't need to rationalize.

The movies main character, Nick Naylor, reminded me of one of my favorite John Kenneth Galbraith quotes:

The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.

Like I said earlier, you can pull a Nick Naylor and convince yourself that what you are doing is not so bad, it pays the mortgage, etc etc but you know you don't quite believe it. Someday try something you believe in. [This may necessitate a smaller mortgage]