The Nannyism Project
The philosophy behind anti-alcohol nannyism.
If the industry of wine, along with the rest of the alcohol beverage industry, is to be diminished and sequestered in the corner alongside tobacco, then it must be put in a position where punishment is deserved. This is the goal—and always has been—of the anti-alcohol Nannyists. One way this group intends to accomplish this is by convincing everyone, including policymakers, that the blame for alcoholism and excessive consumption should not be placed on the individual, but rather on the industry.
In Oregon, there is a proposal to lay a sales tax on beer, wine, and cider. The proposed 8% point-of-sale tax is ostensibly put in place to fund recovery efforts in the state. The alcohol sales tax would be the only sales tax in the state of Oregon, where no other sales tax exists.
But this is really just an off-hand way of pointing to the industry as the culprit. This funding could come out of the state’s general fund. But that wouldn’t point fingers. There are more blatant exercises of this misplaced understanding of who is responsible for excessive consumption of alcohol.
Consider this letter to the Financial Times by Hilary Sutcliffe and Joe Woof of the “Addiction Economy Project”. This UK organization and its spokespeople are upset that a Member of Parliament wants to make benefit cuts to save money. Some of those proposed benefit cuts would be made to prevention programs. Now, observe how they describe alcohol in their letter:
”By focusing on benefit cuts to save money and get people back to work, Rachel Reeves has fallen into the age-old trap of blaming and penalising the individual for their ill health while ignoring the root cause of the problem, primarily three ordinary products that are engineered for overuse — ultra-processed foods, alcohol and cigarettes….products designed to addict.”
Alcoholic beverages are not only “engineered for overuse” but those doing this engineering are to blame for the ill health that results from overconsumption.
Besides my bewilderment at how a natural process of fermentation is engineered by humans, I’m wondering when human beings so lost control of their own agency that they bear no responsibility for their own overconsumption. However, this idea is rampant among the Nannyists.
Or consider this study by Vital Strategies, another UK-based Nannyist organization that concludes that even when the alcohol industry goes out of its way to warn people about the dangers of drunk driving, the industry is causing harm:
“The alcohol industry engages in several strategies to appear socially responsible. This includes sponsoring drink-driving mass media campaigns, alongside other interventions that promote “responsible drinking,” including ride-sharing initiatives and designated driver programs. However, the efficacy of these initiatives is questionable, and instead of promoting public health, they actually promote favorable views of the alcohol industry and its products, prompting sales and consumption.”
My mother, when I used to find her good intentions lacking, liked to say, “I can’t win for losing.”
If the alcohol industry can be blamed or all things and personal responsibility laid into the dustbin of history, then all things are possible where punishing the alcohol industry is concerned. Consider the conclusions of the aforementioned Addiction Economy Project. This is their view of the world:
The diversity of those who become addicted, the many exceptions to the different models and the sheer variety of reasons for addiction and un-addiction led to a movement to bring all these factors into an overarching model and consider the contribution of them together. This was called the the Bio-Psycho-Social Model. We proposed that the Economic Model be added and put first. Without these products, there would be nothing to be addicted to and the most effective ways of curtailing the harm of addictive products is the dismantling of the drivers of the Economic Model.
You can guess who the ‘drivers” are, right? Wineries, breweries, distilleries, retailers, and restaurants where alcohol is produced and sold. What would ‘dismantling look like?