Prohibition: The countdown to 100 years
It’s time to brush up on your knowledge of speakeasies, bathtub gin, demon rum, homebrew, bootlegging, and other icons of the Roaring Twenties.
Jan. 16 marks the hundredth anniversary of the ratification of the 18th Amendment, which set in motion the criminalization of the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages a year later.
I hope everyone will spend the coming year studying up on the fascinating controversies surrounding the 13 years of “the Noble Experiment.” Visit your library, watch the 2011 Ken Burns documentary, or do a web search for “pros and cons of Prohibition.”
Sassy Americans think they know all there is to know about Prohibition, the McCarthy era, or the Civil War, but most possess only superficial understanding.
When it comes to American history, the average American (present company exempted) has the acumen of a sack of wet rocks. Rocks, of course, are of three different types: igneous, metamorphic and, uh … parliamentary.
Okay, Americans also have the acumen of a sack of wet rocks when it comes to science.
Everyone “knows” that Prohibition was a complete failure — enriching organized crime and shrinking tax revenue — and a power grab by mean-spirited, morality-legislating Puritans. But the truth is more complicated.
For instance, there is no concrete evidence that sadistic prohibitionists sought a wall so they could play 78 rpm records of “99 bottles of beer on the wall / 99 bottles of beer / Try and fail to take one down / Still 99 bottles of beer on the wall.”
Despite underfunding of law enforcement, which opened the door to police corruption, Prohibition brought an increase in productivity, a decline in disorderly conduct, and a dramatic drop in deaths from cirrhosis of the liver.
The temperance movement was not focused solely on spoiling people’s fun. Those early progressives campaigned for better housing and working conditions so that workers who had formerly performed back-breaking tasks 80 hours a week and lived in shacks wouldn’t feel the need to drown their sorrows at the local saloon.
I’m not saying that we’ve gotten soft, but maybe we take those reforms for granted. “After 40 hours of watching the clock at work, I have to sprawl in my air-conditioned man cave? I need two beer hats.”
Much of the case against Prohibition stems from its turning liquor into forbidden fruit and enticing citizens to want it more, sort of like “If you tyrants won’t let me date Snake, I’ll just climb out of my bedroom window!” So, we’re proud that America is one big hormonal teenager. Yeah, we really need to be on the U.N. Security Council.
If this reverse-psychology thing works as well as people claim, why don’t we have campaigns that mandate “Employees must not wash their hands after using the restroom,” “Pants must drag omn the ground” and “Thou shalt not miss the chance to swipe a handicapped parking space”?
Granted, in our Enlightened Times, we have bragging rights about social drinking, responsible drinking, designated drivers, and health benefits of drinking.
If only we could apply these principles to other areas of life.
“Yes, I’m breaking wind, but at least I’m doing it at a black-tie event.”
“I am responsibly redecorating the nursery with asbestos and lead paint.”
“Maybe I’m a cannibal, but at least I eat low-cholesterol people.”
“Yes, I was shouting racial slurs from the car; but to cancel that out, my driver was a mime.”
The viewpoints expressed above are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Independent.
How to submit an article, guest opinion piece, or letter to the editor to The Independent
Do you have something to say? Want your voice to be heard by thousands of readers? Send The Independent your letter to the editor or guest opinion piece. All submissions will be considered for publication by our editorial staff. If your letter or editorial is accepted, it will run on suindependent.com, and we’ll promote it through all of our social media channels. We may even decide to include it in our monthly print edition. Just follow our simple submission guidelines and make your voice heard:
—Submissions should be between 300 and 1,500 words.
—Submissions must be sent to editor@infowest.com as a .doc, .docx, .txt, or .rtf file.
—The subject line of the email containing your submission should read “Letter to the editor.”
—Attach your name to both the email and the document file (we don’t run anonymous letters).
—If you have a photo or image you’d like us to use and it’s in .jpg format, at least 1200 X 754 pixels large, and your intellectual property (you own the copyright), feel free to attach it as well, though we reserve the right to choose a different image.
—If you are on Twitter and would like a shout-out when your piece or letter is published, include that in your correspondence and we’ll give you a mention at the time of publication.
Articles related to “Prohibition: The countdown to 100 years”
Album Review: Alan Jackson’s cliched ‘Angels and Alcohol’ may drive you to drink
OPINION: Controlling the market, creating scarcity, and alcohol poisoning in Utah
