It’s days like today that I’m glad the UN has very little real power.

WHO urges smoking ban in public places

The U.N. health agency on Tuesday issued its strongest policy recommendations yet for controlling tobacco use, urging all countries to ban smoking at indoor workplaces and in public buildings. “The evidence is clear. There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke,” said Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization.

There’s no level of safe exposure to the UN, either. Every chance they get, they’re scrambling for more and more power over my life. I can choose whether or not to patronize a smoky establishment. Sometimes that might be a dangerous choice. I can also choose to ignore the government’s edicts. That may be another dangerous choice, as they’re more than willing to use jail cells and firearms to make sure I follow their rules. At least with smoking, I can choose to exclude cigarettes from my life. RJ Reynold’s doesn’t have policemen to come after me if I don’t buy their product.

“This is not about shaming the smoker. This is not even about banning smoking,” said Dr. Armando Peruga, who heads WHO’s anti-tobacco campaign. “This is about society taking decisions about where to smoke and where not to smoke.” He cited Ireland and Uruguay as governments that have successfully tackled smoking by creating and enforcing smoke-free environments. Legislation of the kind has proved popular among both smokers and nonsmokers, according to WHO, whose policy recommendations set broad goals for its 193 member states but are not legally binding.

This is about society democratically trampling the private property rights of individuals. It may be popular, but that doesn’t necessarily make it legitimate. It’s not “society’s” role to make these decisions, it is the private property owner’s role to determine what is allowed on his land.

There is a threat in giving the UN power. They want to be a world government. But when a world government is wrong, we all suffer and there is no escape. Given the tendency for government of any kind to be wrong, and the further tendency for the UN to be flagrantly wrong, I really don’t want to see that day come. These recommendations aren’t legally binding, but believe me when I say that they hope to have that power one day.