the small issue

why am i not surprised? yet another legal product faces discrimination.

“Critics fear next could be a ban on serving alcohol on international flights and turning pubs into salad bars, but Ramadoss is unfazed.”

(Via HT: Ramadoss’ next: No alcohol ads at airports- Hindustan Times.)

this is yet another classic distraction technique that the health minister has initiated. success is addictive; so after a while it quite doesn’t matter what the initiative is, if you know you are riding a wave, you will extract the maximum of it.

in the uk, you can already see the subtle imposition of government agenda through advertising. and the alcohol companies are following suit, there is an obvious alignment to government agenda. almost as if saying, “please don’t ban us, we will ask our customers to drink responsibly.”

the question, as most may misinterpret, isn’t about health issues. it is about creating classes and de-normalisation of certain behaviour. and it is happening slowly, one day to become a big issue.

relent at one place and they will take over the world.

in some ways i am sad about this move, in some — am happy. happy only because i am not surprised — it wasn’t long before this was to happen. so it follows now, you can get married, can go to war if you are under 21, but you cannot buy a drink. and it won’t be long before this spreads soon enough. the first battle, against smoking, is won — onwards!

“Proposals to tackle Scotland’s binge-drinking culture have been announced by the Scottish Government.

The plan would see anyone under the age of 21 banned from buying alcohol in off-licences and set a minimum price at which a unit of alcohol can be sold.”: BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | Alcohol clampdown plans unveiled

how long, before age restrictions and controls apply to what we can buy appropriate food and clothing?

is there a small issue here? i think there is. instead of creating awareness (which is does exist — by scaring the daylights out of you, through horrific imagery), it’s just the easy way out. it all starts small. to quote william walters:

“The answer’s easy; we just need a historical reference. When the anti-smoking zealots started out, they too went after a relatively small target by demanding non-smoking sections on airplanes. That success emboldened them to demand no smoking on planes at all and in airports as well. Then came laws against smoking in restaurants.” CapMag | Trans Fat Ban | by William Walters

this is, therefore the small issue, the effects of alcohol notwithstanding, it is a foot-in-the-door for controlling alcohol consumption to different levels. this will soon become a big issue and will die its natural death. alcohol companies had taken the cue long time ago and began advising their customers to drink responsibly. hardly useful, i say, we will soon not be required to be responsible — we can’t drink any ways.

also, it seems like an opportunity for the pharmaceutical companies to invent another patch — alcoholette (requires will power)?

no big issue started out big, it was this small and apparently inconsequential allowed change, that made it the big issue.

or perhaps, the lack of it.

in an article in the capitalism magazine, walter williams, dares them to “take fatty foods off my plate or remove them from my shopping cart”.

i doubt if they will ever do that. they don’t have to. what if the food you want stops becoming available at the supermarket? it will never reach your plate, leave alone your shopping cart.

choice occurs when there are options. your local restaurant’s menu of tomorrow will have more icons (remember the green chillies and (v) against the items? now there will be some percentage numbers and colour-codes and such against items) than items on the menu itself. in fact – schools of tomorrow may have a special mandatory subject – calorie mathematics.

it’s almost an insult; adults aren’t given enough information to choose and make a decision based on what they know. and if you insist that this information exists (i agree with you), why ban stuff? someone is deciding nearly everything for the people and controlling the choices. but then,

Choice is an illusion created between those with power and those without.
~ Merovingian, The Matrix Reloaded.

because 1984 didn’t happen in 1984, doesn’t mean that it never will!

smokers will soon breathe some fresh air; metaphorically speaking. the focus on the smoker will probably blur in some time. this battle has been won by them; onto the next battlefield. what you breathe is now under control, what you eat is now coming under control. what you drink will be next. so far it has been about the soft drinks only.

wait a while.