6 ms·
This isn't all that much like alcohol prohibition, though. This is about enabling fair access to and good stewardship of a scarce resource. Prohibition was th
by mprev 8y ago
This isn't all that much like alcohol prohibition, though.
This is about enabling fair access to and good stewardship of a scarce resource.
Prohibition was the imposition of one form of morality through law.
In my view, it's easier to argue that one is about personal freedom and so fair game to consider breaking, whereas the other is more about being a good neighbour.
- SilasX 8y agoThat feels like a whitewashing of history. Activists were (with different language) very much worried about negative externalities and effects on the commons when it came to Prohibition. Remember, people were getting rampantly drunk, fighting in the streets, neglecting their families, becoming unemployable, and so on. Beer/wine/spirits sellers were more than happy to promote drinking even with all the social problems produced by it. It certainly didn't feel like a private matter at the time, like praying in your bedroom each night. So "someone making a fortune while leaving the alcoholism and broken homes in its wake" would look very much then like "someone making a fortune while raiding the available housing units and ruining neighborhoods" does today. Edit: And, to be sure, that doesn't mean Prohibition was a good idea. But means the right solution wasn't "free for all for alcohol", but "okay, you can sell alcohol, but with these rules to contain that problem".