One of the benefits of growing up in Sweden is the abundance of moonshine distributors. Were I spent most of my teens about every 4th house had their own apparatus and even though the police had a fair knowledge of most of them, they hardly lifted a finger until some idiot sold his stuff to the very young.
Why was the police so lenient you may ask? Well, firstly the police often came from the same neighborhood consequently knew the people very well; and secondly they were not above drinking the stuff themselves at birthday parties or at Midsummer. There is also the fact that people making their own hooch rarely get into any sort of trouble, so the police don’t really consider them to be a priority. Once in a while the police will pick one or two up, just to make their presence known, but generally speaking the police won’t care about minor distilleries, if they did they’d haft to arrest a large portion of the public.
Swedes, just as Finns and Russians, have a complicated relationship to alcohol. We don’t drink as much in quantity or as often as for example the French, but when we do drink, we drink a lot. It is a rare thing seeing Swedes taking a couple of glasses of wine on a casual day. It will happen, not just all the time as is custom in societies in southern Europe. Swedes rather gulp down a bottle of vodka each Friday (and Saturday) than have a glass of wine to dinner each day. We rather get totally wasted every free day than have one beer each day after work at the local pub.
This is a generalisation of course and is not always true; especially not in Sweden’s larger cities were people are more “continental” in their behavior, but it is nevertheless common practice.
I remember a couple of American exchange students in high school and the horror on their faces during their first couple of weekends in Sweden. While they were sipping on cider and trying to behave, the rest of us were knocking down pure vodka and skinny dipping in the moonlight. And whenever talking to African immigrants they are appalled by how alcohol is misused in Swedish society. Often pointing this out while chewing on CAT or smoking a joint, which in their culture is less destructive. They are probably right by the way.
Anyway, heading down the slippery slope of financial disaster there are a few skills that will make life easier. Knowing how to get a well dressed parliamentarian in the crosshair for one, and how to make your own mountain dew is another. I am not going to teach you how, not in either case, there are plenty of instructions online for that purpose, but I would urge you to hurry up getting tons of suger before prices goes through the roof. When there are no jobs, the world as a whole is going to hell, and you are contemplating eating your young to survive, moonshine will be nice to have so you should stock up with necessary supplies before the calamities begin.
The most common way for government to handle this “illegal” process is the same way as government handles everything else. People making their own alcohol are regarded as criminals who do their very best to sell methanol to preteens. Think of the Chiiildreeeen! Moonshine is only made by shady characters with filthy hands going ‘Mwa ha ha’ in dark basements, and whenever you drink their stuff blindness and crazy wackiness ensues. Government usually have at least one information campaign a year along with councilors lecturing at schools about the dangers of alcohol. Impotence, cancer, beaten up wives, homelessness, crime of all sorts, and many more things are comes into your life whenever you let alcohol into your body.
This flanked with Christian nut jobs pointing fingers and parent groups rallying is all designed to make us feel ashamed. And with bought and paid for journalists and the occasional ‘expert’ arguing governments’ case, we have a situation where people are hiding their bags of alcohol even when it is legitimately bought. Not drinking less, quite the opposite, but sneaking with it.
Whenever this happens government is happy. They have succeeded in “hiding” the problem, shown that they can do something and, most importantly, made us dance to their pipe.
As usual government action and words has nothing to do with concern, it’s all about money and power. If people make their own alcohol, government loses income, and they really need those new polluting jets, and how would our masters survive without lavish dinner parties? Also government has no intention of letting people going about their own business. How would that look? Free thinking adults handling themselves and taking care of their own problems? Oh my, that would be horrible. It would mean less power to the righteous elite, and that we cannot have.
So from a government viewpoint we need to be under their thumb, taxed and controlled.
Also, which is probably the most common expression of government behavior, they totally ignore history and pay no attention whatsoever to reality.
I cannot think of a single country in the history of mankind that hasn’t tried to outlaw, ban or tax alcohol in order to minimize consumption. They’ve all tried it, and they have all failed. Still they think they can do it, so they try, and try, and try, failing miserably each time. Now, what was the definition of insanity again…?
Actually, for the most part, they don’t just fail; the consequence is often the complete opposite of what is intended. Also very characteristic when it comes to government intervention – that is to say they increase the initial “problem” or create new ones.
For example one may assume that when a totalitarian government like that of the Soviet Union, with a sociopath leader killing people for looking at him the wrong way, outlaws alcohol with the threat of Gulag-camps if disobeying, it could maybe work. It didn’t, in fact Russians drank like never before. Within a couple of years Stalin canceled the law and started government owned distilleries instead…
The U.S. tried during the prohibition period during which Americans drank more than they’ve done before or since. The period also gave birth to the Mafia, and this is yet another unavoidable and unintended consequence of all bans – there will always be someone filling the demand.
Pharos, Military dictatorships and Swedish Kings have also tried it, always failing miserably.
It cannot be done, but they still try it. Government in its true glory.
But in the near future, when the world as we know it goes up in flames, what then?
It is likely that a government under fire will, in their minds at least, have no other choice than to ignore big criminals and instead focus on the smaller stuff. They need to show that they are doing something and it is easier catching people driving too fast and moonshine makers than finding and looking up robbers, rapists and banksters. If so, it is also likely that the punishment for lesser crimes will go up.
However, there is also a chance, at least in some countries, that the anarchy and upheaval will free people in certain ways hence make, for example, moonshine a way of life. This is a very possible outcome and so I would urge many of you to pick up an interest. It can be an interest in ropes and how to best string up dead weight in lampposts or it can be moonshine. As said, the information is available for us all. All you need is the right equipment and some know-how.
Let’s get cracking shall we.
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