As this is the anniversary of the day that the Blaine Act ended prohibition in the US, I feel that we are morally obliged to have a beer to commemorate.
– my colleague, in response to an email I sent around at work asking whether we should make the customary Friday lunchtime trip to the pub.
I need a drink to cheer me up after reflecting that the lessons of history don’t come much clearer than the sorry tale of Prohibition – but the world’s political leaders still keep failing the re-takes.
The history of Prohibtion may have little effect Natalie – because this history has been distorted.
In the approved story Prohibition was the fault of silly rural Christians.
In reality (as Jonah Goldberg points out in “Liberal Fascism”) Prohibition was pushed for by the leading “scientific” people of the time – the “Progressive” movement was solidly behind it.
Just as they are behind the various “health Fascist” and “safey Nazi” schemes of our time.
But they get a pass on Prohibtion (and so their reputation stands) because the official story puts all the blame on “Billy Sunday” and co.