Can anyone actually make a convincing argument why alcohol is good actually? I'm not straight edge, I'll have a drink or two once or twice a week. But it seems obvious to me that the world would be a better place without alcohol.
Can anyone actually make a convincing argument why alcohol is good actually? I'm not straight edge, I'll have a drink or two once or twice a week. But it seems obvious to me that the world would be a better place without alcohol.
People drink alcohol and they have for thousands of years. It is a social practice and not something to moralise into good or bad as other's have said. I think there are levels to this though, but they are all grounded in some context and with some goal in mind. If you want to live a fulfilling and healthy life, you will likely want to avoid alcohol or drink in moderation since binge drinking often gets in the way of this. If you want to run an effective revolutionary organisation, you will probably want to promote moderation in your members since running an effective org requires discipline, dependability, presence of mind, etc. Then there is the macro level of public health, where having a drinking culture can cause billions of dollars in lost production and medical costs, so given the circumstance you may want to restrict alcohol by raising the price, banning it, etc. depending on how dire the need is.
I agree with everything here. I'm not trying to moralise it. I'm just making the point that in the best possible world and society we could create there isn't alcohol. Working out way towards that world is a good idea
I think here lies the difference between our views. I would push back on that and say that in a better society, people wouldn't want alcohol the way they do now, but alcohol would still exist and be an option. Maybe people wouldn't drink at all, maybe they would drink occasionally, it's hard to know what would happen in the best possible case in a communist society. I leave it up to the future people living under communism to decide whether alcohol has a place in society or not.
True maybe my certainty is a bit too strong. Still, in a just society; without overwork, without alienation, with support system, mental healthcare for all, with a high quality of life for all, without advertising and culture constantly push alcohol as the way to have fun and be cool. Why would anyone drink alcohol?? I just don't think anyone would.
Yeah, I feel alcohol would have an extremely limited role if it is used at all in such a society, but yeah certainty is probably a bit strong and I think it made a lot of people here think you were coming at it from a "temperance socialist" angle.