P/prohibition [View All]

[iverglas]

Because the concept of "prohibition" comes up so often in this forum, and the alleged analogy between firearms control and alcohol prohibition is dragged up so often in this forum, I thought I would recommend this upcoming miniseries on PBS.

http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/prohibition/

Now, the description on my on-screen cable menu says it is an examination of alcoholism in the mid-1800s and how families and religious groups fought back. That isn't quite what the description on the PBS site is saying:

The culmination of nearly a century of activism, Prohibition was intended to improve, even to ennoble, the lives of all Americans, to protect individuals, families, and society at large from the devastating effects of alcohol abuse.

But the enshrining of a faith-driven moral code in the Constitution paradoxically caused millions of Americans to rethink their definition of morality. Thugs became celebrities, responsible authority was rendered impotent. Social mores in place for a century were obliterated. Especially among the young, and most especially among young women, liquor consumption rocketed, propelling the rest of the culture with it: skirts shortened. Music heated up. America's Sweetheart morphed into The Vamp. ...

Now, I think the alcohol prohibition / firearms control "analogy" is ludicrous, for all the reasons I've stated in this forum so many times.

But it would be nice if those who advance it didn't base their arguments on such cartoon versions of the events and characters as they always do -- and specifically if they acquired some grasp of (and acknowledged) the genuine horrors that alcohol consumption and alcoholism caused for large numbers of the most vulnerable members of society a century ago, for starters. The notion that Prohibition in the US was no more than a moral crusade is the product of ignorance (at least on the part of those who hold it sincerely; others are more disingenuous in their promulgation of it). It would be nice to dispel some of that ignorance in the interests of more enlightened discourse in this place.

The relevance here, of course, is that the same argument from ignorance/disingenuousness is used against firearms control advocates here: that they are engaged in a moral crusade based on a dogma, etc. etc. etc.

The kinds of measures advocated back then by alcohol prohibitionists and now by firearms control advocates can be argued against without misrepresenting the motivations of either. (And note that out of the prohibitionists' efforts came major regulatory measures that are more in the nature of what firearms control advocates actually advocate at present than is prohibition.)

The program is on PBS on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. for those interested.