4 ms·
Watched an interesting Ken Burns documentary on Prohibition the other day. At the time of banning alcohol it was blamed for all kinds of complex social issues,
by fapi1974 7y ago
Watched an interesting Ken Burns documentary on Prohibition the other day. At the time of banning alcohol it was blamed for all kinds of complex social issues, from the breakdown of the family to the loss of moral rectitude. Really, though, it was just a very visible scapegoat for things like changing economic structures (industrial revolution) and social structures (immigration).
To whit, my take is that the smartphone is the new opiate of the masses only to the extent to which it (and social media) are the newest things we like to blame for far more complex social problems.
Prediction: banning smartphones won't stop kids from being depressed, nor will regulating Facebook fix extreme nationalism.
- SomeOldThrow 7y agoIt was certainly eye opening how addicted to alcohol we were before prohibition, and how it was perceived to be linked to domestic abuse (I personally think it was myself). I wonder sometimes looking around the social scene in SF if more of a abolitionist influence on society today in terms of alcohol would be healthy. Not prohibition but rather being culturally skeptical of drinking in general, especially as we are making strides to legalize marijuana, which can’t kill you and won’t make you beat up your family. Even as dispensaries opened, the social life still revolves around bars & restaurants which often serve alcohol. The one dispensary I visit which allows consumption on premise is a sterile, retail environment. Bleh. I much preferred the dutch coffee houses.