As you sit reading this, hopefully comfortably enjoying a cigar, know that a powerful elite group has gathered and decided how you are to live your life. You didn’t elect them and likely don’t know them, but they think they are better than you, smarter than you, and know what you need more than you do. They have decided how their new world will be set and are now growing in strength from the shadows, asking others to pledge their allegiance to their order.
What sounds like a group akin to SPECTRE of the James Bond films or a Bohemian Grove gathering is taking place at the United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative. The organization has overreached and is attempting to get financial institutions, banks, sovereign wealth funds, foundations, and university endowments to join its Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge. Thus far, they have gathered over 200 pledges from organizations that collectively manage over $17.5 trillion in assets – nearly three times the spending of the entire U.S. Federal Government’s budget or seven times the global spending of all the world’s militaries combined.
Their pledge calls on leaders of financial organizations to implement tobacco-free finance policies to eliminate tobacco commerce. They intend to make the sale of tobacco essentially impossible. Pledge by pledge, they are trying to make it so difficult for any business to be associated with tobacco that no one will want to be. Further, all pledge signatories are called to encourage others to follow suit and implement tobacco-free policies themselves. Essentially, like organized crime, they are doing a shakedown. You either join them or die.
For those who may think some of this writing could be hyperbole, allow us to state the key objectives of the pledge:
1. Highlight the leadership of financial institutions that have implemented tobacco-free finance policies and encourage others to follow suit
2. Prioritize tobacco on the corporate agenda as a product and an industry that is distinct from any other with no safe level of use and no opportunity for effective engagement
3. De-normalize financial and corporate associations with tobacco companies
4. Raise awareness among financial institutions of the essential role the finance sector must play to assist in effective tobacco control
5. Encourage the transition towards tobacco-free finance policies
There it is spelled-out, clear as crystal. Simply put, if you’re in the business of tobacco, they don’t want you to be. They’ve already gathered and decided this is how their new world will be, and your business isn’t going to be a part of it. Enjoy a cigar? Good luck finding a place to buy one in their future. Like attending the PCA tradeshow? It doesn’t exist in their future. While bleak to envision, we still have a chance to fight back and prevent their dystopia from happening.
It’s time to shine some light on this unelected shadow government of elites. Their overreach cannot go unnoticed and unchecked. That’s why the Premium Cigar Association (PCA) is engaging with policymakers in Washington, D.C., to bring attention to this UN initiative and find solutions to prevent them from destroying small businesses and our freedom to enjoy tobacco. The UN has its pledge, and we have ours. PCA pledges to fight for a tobacco future. We fight for freedom!
– Article contributed by the Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Government Affairs team. Photo: Adobe Stock.