The author has a point. Today, we reserve the right to castigate anyone that disagrees with us. And it is not dependent which side on an issue is moral or correct – just the numbers and the means to propagandize the position.
Our society of today is afflicted with a serious disease that cannot be cured, only eradicated. It cannot even be remedied with partial success. It is the thinking that is called “political correctness” that is neither logical nor moral. Together with that mishigoss, we get “thought police”. If someone feels that what I did or thought makes him/her feel bad, than I am a target for attack. People lose jobs over this stupidity, and have been blamed for crimes they did not commit.
For instance, SJW’s are obsessed with this stuff. Whites are automatically considered racist, and crimes against them are justified. Does that sound acceptable? Well, the MSM would have you believing that. Yes, Google used this approach to fire an employee. Democrats tout this garbage all the time. No, it will not mellow and become less virulent over time. It will gain strength like a hurricane, and do at least as much damage.
Smoking is not the issue. It is the right to make an issue of thought, and criminalize that.
P.S. Smoking is assur min haTorah. I am not ch”v being accepting of smoking at all. It should be completely banned and criminalized.