Not mentioned is, that the answer to the headline and the explanation for the drop in England is very likely the introduction and wide adaptation of Laudanum among the poorest segments of society. Like Lobster being formerly food for the poor (its icky insects after all) same pattern is visible with opiates.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_trade
Wiki also mentions it being the most effective treatment for dysentery and cholera. Here its worth mentioning that drinkable water was the initial reason for the adaptation of alcoholic beverages.
Drinking alcohol because water was unsafe is a modern myth. Prior to (and for a long time after, too) the germ theory of disease, water was evaluated purely by taste. They drank lots of water. Thus the whole "cholera epidemic because one well in London was near where poop ran off" thing.
In America, proto-Temperance was definitely already underway as far as back as the Whiskey Rebellion, as a meaningful faction of the political support for the whiskey tax was in religious reformists looking to impose a de factor 'sin tax'.
By the time Prohibition was passed in 1920, there'd been near a hundred years of activism behind it. Evangelism and religiously informed politics have been apart of American domestic politics for a very very long time, which shouldn't surprise as the place was a refuge for Christian sects deemed too strict or antagonistic in Europe.
The tax aspect is also referenced in the article, the dimensions are quite impressive.
>When reconstructing consumption from taxes there is also the matter of personal production not captured by taxation, beer being a major product of consumption was consuming 12.5% of people’s salaries and was subsequently contributing around a 1/3 of government revenue in England and a 1/4 of government revenue in Holland, an amount equivalent to the contribution of Spanish silver to the revenue of Spain in the mid 17th century.
Something like 25% of European settlers were fleeing religious persecution. The vast majority were economic migrants.
Religious migrants: 20,000 (Massachusetts Bay) + 3,000 (Plymouth) + 10,000 (half of Maryland) + a few thousand (Rhode Island) + a few thousand (Quakers) = around 38,000
Economic migrants: 14,000 (Jamestown) + 10,000 (half of Maryland) + tens of thousands (Scotch-Irish) + tens of thousands (Germans) + a few thousand (Dutch and Swedish colonies) + a few thousand (French and Spanish colonies) = around 90,000 at least
It's a pretty sick myth that the country was founded to protect "religious freedom" when many of the Christian refugees were themselves vicious persecutors of anyone who didn't believe exactly what they believed.
I thought people mostly drank small beer which was quite weak. They were not drinking to get drunk, it was mostly just safer and tastier water to drink.
When I was young back in 1960s and 70s, many men drove around with a beer can open and drinking.. it wasn't even against the law. And if you were caught driving drunk it wasn't even a big deal.. why did this big change happen? Well a lot of it has to do with a power grab and a money grab by municipalities and police.. and the politicians are always looking for some crisis to opportunitize and grab some headlines and more power.. same thing for seat belts.. power and money.. there was a lot of propaganda put out against drinking and driving and against not having seat belts, and human beings are very susceptible to propaganda especially when they are young
in the 80's I had a school holiday job driving around with a bloke doing deliveries to shops and pubs. He often had a pint at every pub throughout the day, so it wasnt a surprise to see him downing 10 pints throughout a 12-14hr day, doing 200miles+ a day! I wasnt even 10 years old back then, but my parents thought this was a good way to keep me out of trouble.
The drink drive culture in the UK was very engrained.
Politicians driving to or from UK parliament on parliamentary business (having to vote) were exempt from the earlier drink drive laws until one of them killed or injured someone. Cant find the link for this anywhere now, so probably been silently cleaned up from the internet.
When I was young back in 1760s and 70s, many men bought and used slaves.. it wasn't even against the law. And if you were abusing slaves it wasn't even a big deal.. why did this big change happen? Well a lot of it has to do with a power grab and a money grab by municipalities and police.. and the politicians are always looking for some crisis to opportunitize and grab some headlines and more power.. same thing for seat belts.. power and money.. there was a lot of propaganda put out against slavery and against not having seat belts, and human beings are very susceptible to propaganda especially when they are young /s
Like another poster said, what a nonsensical argument. You are a walking example why immortality for humanity would be a terrible thing. It is better that old people with archaic beliefs like you die off so that you won't be around to inflict your ridiculous nostalgia 'for the good old times' on the rest of us.
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[ 4.4 ms ] story [ 42.3 ms ] threadNot mentioned is, that the answer to the headline and the explanation for the drop in England is very likely the introduction and wide adaptation of Laudanum among the poorest segments of society. Like Lobster being formerly food for the poor (its icky insects after all) same pattern is visible with opiates.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_trade Wiki also mentions it being the most effective treatment for dysentery and cholera. Here its worth mentioning that drinkable water was the initial reason for the adaptation of alcoholic beverages.
https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/the-myth-of-medieval-sm...
Regardless, thank you for pointing that out.
By the time Prohibition was passed in 1920, there'd been near a hundred years of activism behind it. Evangelism and religiously informed politics have been apart of American domestic politics for a very very long time, which shouldn't surprise as the place was a refuge for Christian sects deemed too strict or antagonistic in Europe.
>When reconstructing consumption from taxes there is also the matter of personal production not captured by taxation, beer being a major product of consumption was consuming 12.5% of people’s salaries and was subsequently contributing around a 1/3 of government revenue in England and a 1/4 of government revenue in Holland, an amount equivalent to the contribution of Spanish silver to the revenue of Spain in the mid 17th century.
Something like 25% of European settlers were fleeing religious persecution. The vast majority were economic migrants.
Religious migrants: 20,000 (Massachusetts Bay) + 3,000 (Plymouth) + 10,000 (half of Maryland) + a few thousand (Rhode Island) + a few thousand (Quakers) = around 38,000
Economic migrants: 14,000 (Jamestown) + 10,000 (half of Maryland) + tens of thousands (Scotch-Irish) + tens of thousands (Germans) + a few thousand (Dutch and Swedish colonies) + a few thousand (French and Spanish colonies) = around 90,000 at least
It's a pretty sick myth that the country was founded to protect "religious freedom" when many of the Christian refugees were themselves vicious persecutors of anyone who didn't believe exactly what they believed.
The drink drive culture in the UK was very engrained.
Politicians driving to or from UK parliament on parliamentary business (having to vote) were exempt from the earlier drink drive laws until one of them killed or injured someone. Cant find the link for this anywhere now, so probably been silently cleaned up from the internet.
https://www.theregister.com/2007/10/22/drinking_made_it_all_...
Today we know some people have gut bacteria that make alcohol from sugar so will fail an alcohol breath test if stopped by the police.
Other factors include health of the liver and kidneys and other dietary factors, so in practice, its still all made up in my opinion.
Like another poster said, what a nonsensical argument. You are a walking example why immortality for humanity would be a terrible thing. It is better that old people with archaic beliefs like you die off so that you won't be around to inflict your ridiculous nostalgia 'for the good old times' on the rest of us.