{"id":2387,"date":"2021-11-14T11:35:52","date_gmt":"2021-11-14T11:35:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/CBMiZGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmN0cG9zdC5jb20vY29sdW1uaXN0L2FydGljbGUvSm9obi1CcmV1bmlnLW9waW5pb24tQ2FuLUNULXNlZS1pdHNlbGYtY2xlYXJseS0xNjYxODM2Ny5waHDSAQA"},"modified":"2021-11-14T11:35:52","modified_gmt":"2021-11-14T11:35:52","slug":"john-breunig-opinion-can-ct-see-itself-clearly-through-the-philip-morris-smokescreen-ct-post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/?p=2387","title":{"rendered":"John Breunig (opinion): Can CT see itself clearly through the Philip Morris smokescreen? – CT Post"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It has a … ring to it, doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

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If we\u2019re able to breathe easier next November and can welcome the parade back to downtown Stamford, it makes sense that someone will try to entice the tobacco company to become the title sponsor. Handlers of a Marlboro Man balloon could fling candy knockoffs of products to the kiddies.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t mean to sound cynical (OK, yes I do), but I can\u2019t conjure the same enthusiasm as Gov. Ned Lamont, Mayor-elect Caroline Simmons & Co. in welcoming Philip Morris <\/a>to the home of what was once the world\u2019s largest trading floor. Instead, it raises a bigger-picture question:<\/p>\n

Connecticut, where\u2019s your soul?<\/p>\n

Yeah, we\u2019ve firmly established that I\u2019m a prude <\/a>when it comes to smoking, drugs, gambling, etc., but it\u2019s time Connecticut owned up to how it wants to brand itself.<\/p>\n

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Let\u2019s imagine a Connecticut Monopoly game. As the jewel of the state, Stamford deserves the first block. Roll the Mohegan Sun-sponsored dice and you can land on WWE, America\u2019s most dangerous fake sport. Or on Rich Forum, home of \u201cbaby mama drama\u201d episodes of \u201cMaury.\u201d Or on Bobby Valentine\u2019s sports bar\/off-track-betting parlor. Or on Purdue Pharma<\/a>, which made and lost billions by producing the highly addictive painkiller OxyContin.<\/p>\n

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And that\u2019s just Stamford.<\/p>\n

Not only can we fill the rest of the Monopoly board with Mohegan Sun and Foxwood slot machines, but the just-in-time-for-Christmas version can introduce online sports betting and marijuana dispensaries.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Once Upon a Time, in what turned out to be a fairy tale, Connecticut boasted that it could become the Silicone Valley of the Northeast<\/a>. It seems to be settling instead on being Vegas with a chance of snow.<\/p>\n

Some three decades ago, I\u2019d mention Stamford to an out-of-towner and would get the reflexive response, \u201cOh yeah, that\u2019s where the WWF (now WWE) is.\u201d World Wrestling Entertainment has made a considerable number of positive contributions to the local community, but I could never shake the feeling that Stamford \u2014 and Connecticut \u2014 should strive for better corporate role models for the next generation than one that celebrates violence.<\/p>\n

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A more progressive Monopoly board would include the job website Indeed<\/a>, which has a headquarters in Stamford. Indeed routinely analyzes the job market for different generations. It characterizes Zoomers as having a tendency to \u201clean into activism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs change agents, Gen Zs often seek jobs that provide the opportunity to contribute, create, lead, and learn,\u201d Indeed suggests <\/a>on its site. A company\u2019s values matter to these young professionals Connecticut is trying to lure.<\/p>\n

Boomers, of course, were reliably less circumspect about such trifles. My notion of a Philip Morris-sponsored family parade may sound like a folly, but I can recall wincing while covering 1990s road races in Greenwich where runners wore T-shirts bearing the stamp of U.S. Tobacco as a sponsor.<\/p>\n