To the Editor:

I was astonished by the radical measures mentioned in your article “The value of life”, and I
can sense your suspicion in the last line. Indeed, the government is also responsible for its’
people’s behaviour, and simply punishing those with unhealthy habits would be dodging
responsibility.

Firstly, there is no purely reasonable human with free will. Humans are all influenced by
their environment. Now they are exposed to TV series and advertisement in which they can
see scenes of unhealthy behaviours and are even encouraged to pick up those behaviours,
because the government is, if not supporting, allowing these media programs to influence
its’ people. Consequently, the government should not get away with the consequences of
its’ own doing and should provide a safety net for people with unhealthy living habits.

Moreover, cigarettes and alcohol are usually the two most considerable sources of revenue
in a country. It would be unfair to first charge a lot of money from smokers and drinkers and
then abandon them in the healthcare system. Utilizing the revenue to compensate for these
people’s extra healthcare costs would be a more reasonable choice.

In conclusion, people with unhealthy habits are also citizens of a country and they deserve
government’s health service in principle. Besides, since the government contributes to their
detrimental behaviours to some extent and they have already paid for their behaviours,
there is no need to further punish them.