Irrelevant. The past is a sunk cost. What actually matters in my decision-making process (or yours, or anyone else's) is what the effects of each option would be.When Sushi has done an equivalent amount of damage to people throughout history, maybe I will listen to the argument that Sushi consumption leading to mercury poisoning is more prevalent than a drunk person accidently damaging themselves or someone else.
This is not within the spectrum of my options available. Here are the general categories I have to choose from:If people, all people, just stayed away from alcohol altogether; if they just avoided it from birth onwards, then I can assure you, domestic violence would be lowered, ARNDs would never occur, road-side fatalities would fall (no, you don't need to have a BAC of 0.05 or over for road-side accidents to occur), accidental deaths as a pedestrian (with whatever BAC) would be avoided, you wouldn't ever have a hang-over, you wouldn't ever "lose your booze" (as funny as that may seem).
- I don't drink at all. Everyone else does what they do.
- I drink responsibly. Everyone else does what they do.
- I abuse alcohol. Everyone else does what they do.
Notice that "I don't drink at all, and neither does anyone else" is not one of the options that I can choose from.
Yes, so they're irrelevant to me, since I don't abuse alcohol.Yes, I realise that the majority of these things are the indirect result of alcohol abuse.
You haven't suggested that it could neceessarily happen, but you keep on alluding to the prospect of it happening somehow having some sort of bearing on people's individual choices.Well if no one drank alcohol to begin with, (angry drunks and happy drunks inclusive), then no one would be able to abuse it anyway. I realise that this is probably never going to happen, and I realise that this is "unrealistic". But I've never suggested otherwise. Maybe there isn't really a solution.
I don't know, but I think it's somewhat more of a mental leap than the idea that impossible things are irrelevant, which is something that you apparently have trouble with.But how is it such a mental leap for anyone to see that if no one drank, if everyone just put aside their own fun for just a second, then no one would ever get hurt because of it?
Yes, it is worth it, because I consume alcohol responsibly (thus gaining the benefits) while not abusing it (thus avoiding the detrimental effects).I have listed statistics about the detrimental effects of alcohol on page 9 (http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/general-debates/73445-prohibition-9.html). Amongst these statistics is the fact that the economic cost of alcohol abuse outweighs the economic benefit of moderate alcohol consumption. Well, great. I know that there are benefits to moderate alcohol consumption, but gee, when it costs more to deal with the effects of alcohol abuse you really have to wonder whether it actually is worth it.
I sure didn't say that. I think it would be fair to say that restricting alcohol to the point where abuse would be impossible would be an unjustified restriction on personal freedom, though.And moderation versus abuse aside, is there even a single person on this thread who has never abused alcohol? Because from where I'm standing, it looks like the majority of you are saying that there is nothing wrong with abusing alcohol if you had fun doing it.
I attribute this to other factors:This masochistic tendency to trade pain for pleasure, where it is somehow justified by saying that "you had fun so it's okay" really doesn't work. Especially when there are various instances that someone who is only mildly intoxicated could actually harm another person; not just themselves. Like driving, for example. Or even walking home. No, I am not being paranoid about the risks associated - instead, I think most people on here are entirely apathetic.
- most people here actually enjoy a drink and see no need to eliminate alcohol.
- most people here place a value on liberty and recognize the constraint on it that prohibiting alcohol would represent (not to mention the fact that prohibition tends to be ineffective and harmful in its own right anyhow). It sure seems like you don't.