Here’s A Crazy Idea: How About A Six-Month Prohibition to Cut Debt, Eliminate Alcoholism, and Save Families
Author: Nick
Category: Money
Topics: debt, economy
Somehow a conversation at work the other day turned from the subject of women’s basketball to the 1920s alcohol Prohibition in the United States. (I think someone said, “You’d have to be drunk to enjoy women’s basketball,” and things proceeded from there.) A brief survey of all present revealed that most of us like to drink, some of us a lot. There was one member of the group, a quiet girl who usually doesn’t comment on anything more controversial than jaywalking, who admitted that she doesn’t drink and sometimes wishes everyone else couldn’t either. A few hours passed, after which we finally stopped laughing and seriously considered her proposal.
What effect would an alcohol prohibition have on the United States today?
Some of my older, deader readers may recall what the 1920s were like without alcohol: nothing but sunshine, good times, flowers, and bicycles. Well, at least for the first six months. After that, Al Capone became everyone’s best friend, and drinking became more prevalent than it ever was before Prohibition. I suppose the main reason Prohibition failed is that people fond of alcohol really can’t go that long without it, and even casual or light drinkers really don’t want to give up the juice forever.
But maybe there’s a way to achieve all the benefits of an alcohol prohibition while avoiding another speakeasy society. That’s why I propose that the United States institute a six-month prohibition against alcohol.
Okay Nick, What Are You Smoking This Time?
Hear me out! As I mentioned earlier, the early months of Prohibition yielded some success in meeting the goals of eliminating alcohol consumption.
- Alcohol consumption decreased. It may be true that alcohol consumption eventually rose to its pre-Prohibition levels, but the beginning of the Prohibition era was marked by a general decrease in alcohol use.
- Alcohol abuse and disease dropped. Livers everywhere breathed a sigh of relief as many alcoholic but otherwise law-abiding citizens gave up their drinks.
- Many crime levels dropped sharply. The Prohibition era is often popularized as a time of gangsters, shootings at every street corner, and a general sense of mayhem and debauchery. In fact, assault, domestic violence, vagrancy, prostitution, and many other crime levels were cut in half during the 1920s. Even Chicago, the speakeasy capital of the country, saw overall crime levels come down.
- People saved money and worked harder. By some accounts, savings account balances tripled in the early and mid-1920s, work attendance rose, and many people who had previously let alcohol rule their lives took back control.
Even six months of prohibition could see the start of these benefits in American society. And while the end of that period would likely see some reversal, six alcohol-free months might be enough to break some people out of the vicious cycle of alcoholism that causes deep debt and shattered marriages.
The Return of the Revenge of the Son of Al Capone
But what about all of the negative aspects of prohibition? How would six dry months avoid the same calamities encountered during 13 years of Prohibition? Put simply, the short duration would be enough to spark all of the benefits above while largely avoiding all of the negatives.
- Gangster crime and speakeasies. As “organized” as organized crime is, it still takes time to start a black market for alcohol. By the time alternative sources of alcohol could be established, the six-month prohibition would end. Thus, it wouldn’t be profitable for organized crime or speakeasies to violate the prohibition.
- Alcohol industry effects. Thirteen dry years devastated the U.S. beer and wine industries. The best breweries and vineyards packed up and headed overseas, and the quality of American alcohol has never recovered. Today, the alcohol economy is global, so cutting off the tap for six months to 300 million people wouldn’t have such a detrimental effect on alcohol makers as it did in the early 20th century.
- Government revenue cuts. Tax revenue from alcohol sales would evaporate during those six months. I guess they’ll have to end the War in Iraq a few hours early to make up for the couple billion tax dollars the government would lose.
So what do you think? I hope you’ll respond to this proposal with your answers to the following questions:
- Would you support a six-month alcohol prohibition?
- What affect do you think a short-term prohibition would have on you?
- Could the positive effects of prohibition be realized in such a short time?
- Would the negative effects of prohibition be realized in such a short time?
- What other considerations, if any, are missing from this idea?
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36 Responses
1.
Clever Dude
August 28th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
I personally wouldn’t mind either way if alcohol was gone for 6 months. However, most pubs thrive on alcohol sales, as do all those mom and pop beer stores. With 6 months of sales wiped out, I doubt many of them would be able to come back from that.
Is it better that they don’t? Eh, there’ll always be someone to take their place. I like a drink every so often myself, but I could do fine with other substitutes like soda or Kool-aid. I don’t get sloppy drunk like I did back in college. It’s lost its appeal.
2.
plonkee
August 28th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
I don’t mind what you do in the US but I won’t be very happy if they banned alcohol for 6 months in the UK. How would we go to the pub? Would it cause a problem with marmite production? Where would all the mashups go all day? Would it lead to an increase in the use of illicit drugs?
3.
jenn
August 28th, 2007 at 6:53 pm
I have a feeling that people would just stock up on alcohol before the six months to tide them over. I wouldn’t do an alcohol ban- I think the problems with alcohol are socially based as much as physical, so it is more an issue of people being able to take responsibility for themselves- you have to want to quit or slow down your drinking. I also think that many people might turn to alternative drugs as an outlet instead- the drug market legal and not is very different from the 1920′s.
While I have no doubt that it would be great for many people’s waist lines, pocketbooks, and general responsibility, I don’t think you can just target one drug (and if you where- why not tobacco? It is as an industry probably worse, the health effects are expensive and directly effecct kids, and it is highly addictive of course)- by targeting one drug it sets up the continued separation of licit (prescribed or not) vs. illicit drugs, which I think targets certain groups of people unfairly.
I WOULD support a movement for everyone to only drink local or organic alcohol though.
4.
Patrick
August 29th, 2007 at 6:40 am
I’m with Jenn on this one. People would just stock up right before the prohibition went into effect… bars and stores would close, and it would be just awful for the overall economy.
But, there would be one hellacious nationwide party the night before it went into effect!
5.
MoneyFwd
August 29th, 2007 at 8:57 am
I agree with Jenn. People would stock up and it is possible that illegal drugs would become more prevalent.
I think overall it would hurt us. Small breweries are finally becoming more common and are providing a better product. Prohibition killed small breweries throughout, and many places such as Philadelphia still have not recovered. It would only help the large companies such as Anheuser Busch and Coors who would be able to survive for 6 months, and we’d end up with more bad beer, less variety, and more reliance on large corporations.
I think a blackmarket would also start pretty quickly, since one already exists with illegal drugs and prescription drugs, etc, it wouldn’t be hard to add alcohol to the stock.
6.
Mary
August 31st, 2007 at 10:37 am
At the stroke of midnight on that last day of the prohibition, droves of people would hit the bars, the ABC stores, the grocery stores- especially the newly-21 year olds- and I wonder how many of them wouldn’t wake up the next morning. I think a compromise in this situation would be to prohibit the sale of products with an alcohol content greater than 8% or so. People could still go out, get buzzed, whatever– it would just be more difficult to get to the point of being so absolutely trashed as to cause alcohol poisoning. Microbreweries could stay in business, people with alcohol additions wouldn’t have to go cold turkey. However, Canada and Mexico would become even more popular tourist destinations, bathtub moonshine production would increase exponentially, and higher-proof alcohol would still be brought in illegally from other countries. I don’t know how that would be enforced effectively enough to be effective.
7.
KingJacob
September 3rd, 2007 at 1:49 pm
I think people drink too much but I would never approve of prohibition cause its not the governments responsibility to solve everyones individual faults, if you have a drinking problem its your personal responsibility to fix it not the governments.
8.
Jason
April 25th, 2008 at 1:06 am
Simply an innovative idea!
A lot many times we are too focussed on encountering and resolving debt issues. However things should be addressed at their very root to avoid its dire consequences.
Debt and other financial problems often stems out of excessive alcoholism and frivolous usage of funds. Prohibiting alcohol for a span of time would definitely help people realize its harmful effects and help them overcome the addiction.
9.
Jason Kets
December 4th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Wow, I really disagree with this idea from an economical standpoint. No matter what the economic situation, consumers are willing to spend money on alcohol. How in the world would eliminating an entire industry help?
It would cause massive layoffs, punishing an industry (completely counter to capitalism), and it wouldn’t even stop people from drinking!
If you drink, drink in moderation. If you can’t, try sober living
10.
Anthony
January 3rd, 2009 at 10:35 pm
No…wouldn’t support. We have too many that would just break the law and the police have enough trouble policing pot now which incidentally, is only half-heartedly supported by the population.
Prob. would have no short-term effect other than cutting out my rum and coke on a Friday night.
Thanks for the thoughts.
11.
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September 16th, 2010 at 2:39 am
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12.
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December 14th, 2010 at 2:14 pm
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March 26th, 2011 at 9:03 am
I think people drink too much but I would never approve of prohibition cause its not the governments responsibility to solve everyones individual faults, if you have a drinking problem its your personal responsibility to fix it not the governments.صبايا العرب
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August 12th, 2011 at 1:00 am
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20.
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24.
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December 9th, 2011 at 2:46 am
But maybe there’s a way to achieve all the benefits of an alcohol prohibition while avoiding another speakeasy society.
25.
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December 24th, 2011 at 8:48 am
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May 16th, 2012 at 10:58 am
while the end of that period would likely see some reversal, six alcohol-free months might be enough to break some people out of the vicious cycle of alcoholism that causes deep debt and shattered marriages.
32.
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July 1st, 2012 at 4:03 am
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33.
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September 11th, 2012 at 3:21 pm
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[...] Here’s A Crazy Idea: How About A Six-Month Prohibition to Cut Debt, Eliminate Alcoholism, and Save… by Nick @ Punny Money. Nick wonders whether prohibiting alcohol would solve a lot of problems. Hmm… prohibition will probably mean much safer driving on Friday nights. Now, I would give up a few beers for that. Seriously though, with all the TV advertisements against drunken driving, one would expect a drastic reduction in people who drink and drive. However, over the last 5 years, things haven’t changed much in our town. It’s still pretty risky (for sober drivers) to be out driving on late Friday nights. [...]
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