46
Alcohol prohibition is not entirely wrong...
(reddthat.com)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 19 Sep 2026
46 points (78.0% liked)
Unpopular Opinion
9466 readers
370 users here now
Welcome to the Unpopular Opinion community!
How voting works:
Vote the opposite of the norm.
If you agree that the opinion is unpopular give it an arrow up. If it's something that's widely accepted, give it an arrow down.
Guidelines:
Tag your post, if possible (not required)
- If your post is a "General" unpopular opinion, start the subject with [GENERAL].
- If it is a Lemmy-specific unpopular opinion, start it with [LEMMY].
Rules:
1. NO POLITICS
Politics is everywhere. Let's make this about [general] and [lemmy] - specific topics, and keep politics out of it.
2. Be civil.
Disagreements happen, but that doesn’t provide the right to personally attack others. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Please also refrain from gatekeeping others' opinions.
3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.
Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.
4. Shitposts and memes are allowed but...
Only until they prove to be a problem. They can and will be removed at moderator discretion.
5. No trolling.
This shouldn't need an explanation. If your post or comment is made just to get a rise with no real value, it will be removed. You do this too often, you will get a vacation to touch grass, away from this community for 1 or more days. Repeat offenses will result in a perma-ban.
6. Defend your opinion
This is a bit of a mix of rules 4 and 5 to help foster higher quality posts. You are expected to defend your unpopular opinion in the post body. We don't expect a whole manifesto (please, no manifestos), but you should at least provide some details as to why you hold the position you do.
Instance-wide rules always apply. https://legal.lemmy.world/tos/
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
Eh? I don't think it is well taught how bad alcoholism was in the English speaking world at the turn of the century. It was relatively common for men to drink away their wages, leaving their families poor. Alcohol also increased the likelihood of domestic violence, something which was somewhat socially acceptable.
Now, the outright ban obviously had nasty side effects including the creation of organized crime. However, I could see the argument that increased regulation and restriction in availability was justified.
After all, they had to ban buying gin by the pint.
If you think it isnt still common for people to drink away all of their family's meager wealth I encourage you to find a local AA chapter, call up to ask for permission, then to come and listen in quiet support.
I'm not saying it isn't possible today. What I'm saying is that it was far more common back before Prohibition.
Incorrect. "Never rebounded" on alcohol consumption is flat out wrong. It rose back up over the years and surpassed pre-Prohibition alcohol consumption levels during COVID.
https://apnews.com/article/public-health-health-statistics-health-us-news-ap-top-news-f1f81ade0748410aaeb6eeab7a772bf7
right before COVID, actually:
That's crazy that it has gone back to pre Prohibition levels.