Updated on January 13, 2025 at 11:11 a.m. ET
In 1900, a former schoolteacher named Carrie Nation entered a bar in Kiowa, Kansas, declared, “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m here to save you from the fate of drunkards,” and threw bricks and stones at liquor bottles. I started throwing it. The men, more interested in physical safety than spiritual salvation, fled into a corner. When Nation ran out of bricks and stones that day, she used a billiard ball she called a “smasher” to destroy three bars. She eventually – and famously – made the switch. hatchetused it over a long period of attacks on what she considered to be the causes of society’s moral failings. She called this period of her life the “incubation” period.
By comparison, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, a mild-mannered physician perhaps best known for sounding the alarm about the “loneliness epidemic,” responded to his persistent attempts at alcohol. I’m taking a more gentle approach. Add cancer warnings to alcohol products Made without violence or screaming. However, following this recommendation would mean that the same measures have been taken against alcohol since at least the 1980s, when new laws set the country’s drinking age at 21 and required warning labels, especially about alcohol’s pregnancy-related risks. This will be the most important measure. Mr. Murthy’s proposal is part of that. increasingly difficult The message comes from public health authorities about drinking even in moderation, and comes amid a marked shift in cultural attitudes towards alcohol, particularly among “sober and curious” young people. . In 2020, my colleague Olga Kazan asked why no one was interested in creating a modern temperance movement. The movement has arrived with a decidedly 21st century twist. The Carrie Nation was trying to change the soul of their country. Temperance today focuses on self-transformation.
The movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries, which eventually led to Prohibition, was closely connected to broader religious revivalism and movements for women’s rights. Alcohol was considered unhealthy for women, families, and the overall condition of humanity. The seriousness of the problems caused by alcohol in America before Prohibition is immeasurable. In 1830, Americans drank three times as much distilled liquor as they do today. This equates to 90 bottles of 80 proof liquor per year. When distilled spirits became widely available, men wasted most of their paychecks on alcohol, stayed up all night in bars, and what we now call domestic violence was rampant, says food historian Sarah Wassberg Johnson. Ta. Members of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union considered themselves a progressive group that helped the less fortunate. “By abstaining from alcohol, they were protecting their homes, protecting their families, and protecting their nation,” Dan Marek, a health sciences professor at Brock University, told me. In the late 19th century, young people demonstrated their moral virtue by: vow of abstinence.
In contrast, today’s low-key, curious post is about how Dry January reduced inflammation, sharpened jaw lines, and improved sleep scores on Instagram. The sanctity of the family, or the moral health of society as a whole, let alone 37 Americans. die Accidents caused by drunk driving occur every day, but they don’t seem to be a big concern. (To be fair, this focus on health is partly a reaction to research on the negative effects of moderate alcohol consumption on heart health, cancer risk, and longevity.) In 2020. According to Gallup public opinion poll86 percent of respondents said drinking alcohol is morally acceptable, up from 78 percent in 2018. In contrast, more than half of young people surveyed in 2023 expressed concerns about drinking. health risks Drink alcohol in moderation.
[From the July/August 2021 issue: America has a drinking problem]
Colleen Miles, a professor at Texas State University who studies how alcoholic beverages change culture, said such reactions don’t mean the national conversation about alcohol has abandoned morality. Instead, he said, it simply means that Americans’ moral center of gravity has drifted. She views modern celibacy as: steered By self-optimization, the great moral project of our time. in her book Plain and curiousRuby Warrington writes that reducing alcohol intake is “the next logical step in the wellness revolution.” Miles said choosing not to drink in an alcohol-soaked culture is seen as an act of integrity and self-care. It is a social change, but it is carried out through the individual. In 2019, the non-alcoholic spirits producer, who calls his products “euphoria” rather than mocktails, largely aligned with Carrie Nation. said new york times“Alcohol is a women’s lib issue, it’s an LGBTTQQIAAP issue, it’s a racial issue.” But her vision of sobriety is less social, and her sober curiosity is about people’s “choices.” She said it’s about “freedom of freedom.” It is almost inconceivable that radical activists like Congress and the Nation would try to restrict that freedom by outlawing the sale of espresso martinis. However, the proposed warning label takes into account personal health (and lack of extreme social activity) and is more appropriate for our health era. It won’t cure all society’s ills, but it will at least persuade some people to refrain from drinking.
Prohibition, the end result of the original temperance movement, was more ambitious and took place at a societal level. Prohibition did not criminalize the act of personal drinking, but rather the sale, purchase, and transportation of alcohol. After Congress proposed the 18th Amendment in 1917, it had seven years to pass the bill. Thanks to widespread enthusiasm, states ratified it in just 13 months. The amendment and the law implementing it, the Volstead Act, were passed in 1919, and Prohibition officially began in 1920.
“I don’t think we’ll see Prohibition again” this century, Miles said. Especially since sober and curious people are not advocating for policy change on this scale. Instead, by emphasizing its health effects, neo-temperates are changing social and, of course, moral norms around alcohol. Also, importantly, they are creating a market for non-alcoholic beverages and spaces. The original temperance movement similarly popularized many people. new drinksoda and fruit juice. However, unlike its modern version, it directly attacked the alcoholic beverage industry. In 1916, There were 1,300 breweries producing full-strength beer in the United States. Ten years later, they’re all gone.
[From the April 1921 issue: Relative values in Prohibition]
During Prohibition, alcohol consumption and related deaths decreased significantly. However, many continued to purchase alcohol illegally or make their own. Malek said part of the reason the temperance movement failed to bring about utopia was its failure to recognize how drunkenness was fueled by other social problems, such as low wages and low pay. Ta. 12 hour work In a factory where there was danger lose a limb or must urinate In the corner. These problems continued even after alcohol was banned. In 1933, during the Great Depression, lawmakers I decided The country needed an economic stimulus from alcohol sales, so it abolished Prohibition. Although President Herbert Hoover called Prohibition a noble experiment, many historians believe it was a failure. Today, about 60 percent of Americans drink alcohol, a number that has remained stable for more than 40 years.
However, in recent years there have been signs that fewer young people are drinking alcohol. Even if bricks and machetes can’t persuade Americans to change their relationship with alcohol, perhaps the promise of finding your best self through fake Negronis and non-alcoholic IPAs can.
This article originally misstated Colleen Miles’ title and the name of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union.
