Who Are We?
The Free Society (TFS) has been launched by the smokers’ lobby group Forest to give a voice to those who want less not more government interference in their daily lives.
Confronted by an ever expanding army of politicians, bureaucrats and special interest groups who seem determined to limit our freedoms through social engineering and censorship, The Free Society will discuss freedom and its limits and encourage national debate on a wide range of issues.
Our goal is a society that adopts a sensible, laissez-faire approach to social and economic affairs, trusting people to make their own decisions about how best to live their lives, mindful of the effect their behaviour may have on other people.
Background
Since 1979 Forest has campaigned on behalf of smokers and tolerant non-smokers. We accept there are serious health risks associated with smoking, and we accept that government has a duty to educate people about those risks.
Over the past decade, however, the war on tobacco has moved from education to censorship and now coercion. First, there was the ban on tobacco advertising and sponsorship. Now, smoking has been banned in all enclosed “public” places including every pub, bar and private members’ club in the country.
The Government introduced the ban not to “protect workers from the effects of passive smoking” (that was a smokescreen based on extremely dubious evidence) but to force smokers to quit so it could meet its target of reducing smoking rates from 25 to 21 per cent by 2010.
Flushed with “success”, anti-smoking activists now want to ban smoking in many outdoor areas, even some people’s homes. They want to ban smoking while driving and clamp down on “noise pollution” and “increased litter” which are the direct result of … banning smoking in enclosed public places!
Areas of interest
For years Forest has warned that it was only a matter of time before campaigners (and politicians) moved on to food and drink.
So it has proved. Today the “war on tobacco” has been joined by the “war on obesity” and the “war on binge drinking”. As with smoking, we support campaigns that educate people about the risks of over-indulging (as long as the information is factually correct), but we abhor the use of dubious statistics and doomsday scenarios to justify increased taxation and further legislation designed to dictate how we choose to live our lives.
Other areas of interest to The Free Society include motoring (excessive use of speed cameras, unnecessarily restrictive speed limits on motorways), CCTV cameras, compulsory ID cards, free speech and global warming.
United we stand
Smoking, eating, drinking, speeding … these are issues about which many people have divided opinions. If you’re not a smoker you may not care about the “denormalisation” of tobacco.
But what about alcohol? It has been suggested, by some campaigners, that adults be limited to three units of alcohol each time they visit a pub; or that supermarkets should have a separate check-out facility for people buying wine, beer or spirits.
Do you enjoy fatty food and dairy products? Or salt? Or red meat? According to a spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), parents who feed their children meat are guilty of “child abuse”.
The same argument has been used to describe parents who smoke at home and will no doubt be used for parents whose children are overweight.
Genuine libertarians stick together and defend people’s right to do things they themselves are not that keen on. If you enjoy a drink but don’t smoke you should still oppose the war on tobacco; if you smoke but don’t drink, you should oppose excessive regulation of alcohol, and so on.
Support our campaign
What we are experiencing today is not a “nanny state”. It is nothing less than a bully state.
The Free Society is a long-term project. The bully state is on a roll and we suspect things will get worse before they get better. We’re realists, but we’re not defeatists – hence this campaign.
On some issues, there already exist groups that are campaigning against excessive government regulation. Safe Speed, for example, is doing an excellent job highlighting the arguments against the number of speed cameras. No2ID is working hard to stop the introduction of compulsory ID cards. The TaxPayers’ Alliance is doing a fantastic job on the question of taxation.
There are also some excellent forums where libertarianism is alive and well. (The online magazine Spiked! comes immediately to mind.)
Where possible, The Free Society will promote and work with such groups in order to develop an active network of like-minded people.
So, please support our campaign. Visit this site for news, information and comment. Sign up and register your support, and check out our parent site, Forest Online.
