Tag Archives: alcohol sales

“MODERATION IN ALL THINGS” // ADDICTION

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Photo by Dylan de Jonge (fair use)

Balance is delicate — a Goldilocks concept :  just right.  Early Greek philosophers articulated it well :  moderation in all things.  German designers of the Bauhaus school borrowed the concept, observing that less is more.  Yet so many humans, especially in youth, tend to subscribe to a risky  position by arguing that, if some is fun or good,  more is better.  

We can become addicted to substances, to pleasures, to self.  But we can also become addicted to nonsense, making a god out of purity, abstinence — resulting in holier than thou positions, and judgementalism.  (Yes, I get it, that some people simply have problems maintaining balance, and their only practical resort is abstinence — and I do not judge that position.)  Whatever works to attain balance is wise, even if it may appear to be immoderately severe to other folks.  Jesus said judge not, lest ye be judged.  And that’s a delicate and difficult instruction.

Presently I’m located in a state which has banned all alcohol sales, again. (I’ve written on this topic before.)  Said state also insists that people wear masks — a wise policy, brilliantly enforced by traffic laws.  They even insist that everyone smear alcoholic sanitizer on their hands upon entering a store — a practice which I find bizarre.  Hey, the world is dirty, and as soon as I touch anything, so am I.  There is even some evidence that hand sanitizer is unhealthy, if it has been made with methanol, which is toxic, and can be absorbed thru the skin.  ¿ Is such a state poisoning citizens?

But the inconsistency about alcohol is odd.  On one hand (yeah, on both) the state advocates using alcohol to prevent cv-19 infection, and on the other it bans alcohol consumption where it could be considered medicinal to the throat — the main entry portal of the plague.  Drinking a little alcohol might actually be beneficial, as long as it is done moderately.  

Of course, no state can legislate moderation.  Yet they continue to try.  And people continue to drink hand sanitizer when they can’t buy booze, and then die.  Together we can get thru this pandemic if we think carefully.

 

LEY SECA // PROHIBITION ALWAYS FAILS

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Destroying illegal liquor.  Reuters photo, via HindustanTimes (fair use)

Churchmen and politicians seem to be slow learners.  When they attempt to modify human behavior the result is : full prisons, underworld vendors replacing taxpaying businesses, and blood on their hands for those who consumed toxic homemade booze.  Prohibiting transactions which people want is simply not effective.  Yet the beer can gets kicked down the road, and the problems grow.  “Forbidden fruit” has not been successfully removed since “the beginning”.  And yet authorities still think they can do so by writing laws and arresting people? Yes, slow learners.

Jesus knew better.  He advised that the weeds and the wheat should be allowed to grow together, rather than attempting to uproot them prematurely.  (English version.)

Ten countries around the globe have decriminalized drugs. (Alcohol is a drug.)  Those ten have enjoyed significant social improvements, and savings, by recognizing that desire for contraban is never removed by legislation.  And yet prohibitions of many vices still continue to fail in many ways, in many places, because authorities think they are wiser and more powerful than Jesus.