Smoking, Class, and the Legitimation of Power: Reflections on the War against Tobacco and on the Rise of the New Puritanism

"The puritan hated bear baiting, not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators." T.B. Macaulay, 1848

The “War against Tobacco” is a fact of modern life. We have high taxes, bans on promotion, campaigns against smoking, and growing attempts to criminalise smoking outside — and perhaps soon inside — the home.

In this book, Sean Gabb shows that the war is part of a much larger project of lifestyle regulation by the ruling class, and that its function is to provide a set of plausible excuses for the extraction of resources from the people and for the exercise of power over them.

This is a class issue, and no discussion of tobacco policy can be complete without an understanding of the dynamics of class.

CONTENTS INCLUDE

• INTRODUCTION: SMOKING, THE RULING CLASS AND LEGITIMATION DISCOURSE
• LEGITIMISING THE STATE
• THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF “SOCIAL PROBLEMS”
• CLASS POWER AND CLASS LEGITIMATION
• PATERNALISM AND CLASS LEGITIMATION
• THE WAR AGAINST TOBACCO
• THE FUTILITY OF THE TOBACCO COMPANIES
• WRITINGS REVIEWED
• RELIGION AND RESISTANCE
• TEXTS IN CONTEXT
• CHRIS TAME: HIS PART IN MY DOWNFALL!
• FOREWORD TO THE SECOND EDITION
• THE RIGHT TO SMOKE: AN HISTORICAL VIEW
• I: A PURELY PRIVATE AFFAIR, BUT...
• II: THE QUESTIONS
• i: The Desired End of the Anti-smoking Movement
• ii: The Intellectual Pedigree of the Anti-Smokers
• iii: Whether the End can be Achieved
• III: TOBACCO AND MANKIND
• i: The European Discovery
• ii: Smoking before Columbus
• iii: Tobacco in America
• iv: Its Spread Throughout the World
• iv: The Use of Tobacco: A Universal Custom
• v: The Reasons for its Spread
• a: Pleasurable Effects
• b: The Alleged Medical Benefits
• c: The Social Benefits
• d: Religious Uses
• IV: THE PERSECUTION OF TOBACCO — PART ONE
• i: Spanish America
• ii: Europe
• iii: A Theological Excursus
• iv: The Bible
• v: The Law of Nature
• vi: The Likeliest Reason
• V: THE PERSECUTION OF TOBACCO — PART TWO
• i: Germany
• ii: Switzerland
• iii: Russia
• iv: Turkey
• v: Japan
• vi: England
• vii: Tobacco Turns to Gold
• VI: THE PERSECUTION OF TOBACCO — PART THREE
• VII: THE MODERN PROSPECT

• THE RIGHT TO SMOKE: A CHRISTIAN VIEW

• INTRODUCTION
• I: RELIGION, POLITICS AND MORALITY
• II: IS SMOKING SINFUL?
• III: THE NATURE OF MORALITY
• IV: THE LIMITS OF REASON AND SCEPTICISM
• V: FUNDAMENTALS OF CHRISTIAN THEISM
• VI: NATURAL LAW AND MORALITY
• VII: REASON AND REVELATION
• VIII: SMOKING AND NATURAL LAW
• IX:PLEASURE AND SIN: THE CHRISTIAN CASE AGAINST PURITANISM
• X: THE ISSUE OF “ADDICTION”
• XI: IS SMOKING “UNNATURAL”?
• XII: IS SMOKING “SLOW SUICIDE”?
• XIII: SMOKING, SIN AND TOLERATION
• XIV: THE EVIL OF MORAL AUTHORITARIANISM
• XV:CONCLUSIONS

• THE RIGHT TO SMOKE: A CONSERVATIVE VIEW

• I: THE RISKS OF SMOKING
• II: ... AND THE BENEFITS
• III: THE ANTI-SMOKING LOBBY
• IV: CONSERVATISM: THE PARTY OF FREEDOM
• V: INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS
• VI: ANTI-SMOKING AND ANTI-DEMOCRATIC ELITISMS
• VII: SMOKING AND CLASS CONFLICT
• VIII: SMOKING AND THE PHILOSOPHIC CASE FOR FREEDOM
• IX: “EXTERNALITIES” AND THE ALLEGED GROUNDS FOR RESTRICTING LIBERTY
• i: The NHS and the Costs of Smoking
• ii: The Alleged Effects of “Passive Smoking”
• X: SMOKING RESTRICTIONS: A CRITIQUE
• i: Advertising and Free Speech
• ii: The Counter-Productive Effect of High Tobacco Taxation
....