75 years ago today....

Today is a day that may go by unrecognized by most in this country but it is a day to celebrate.  Seventy -five years ago today our fore-bearers got it together and decided that producing, selling, and drinking alcoholic beverages should be legal in the good ole U.S. of A.  The 21st amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed which repealed the 19th amendment.  And just in case you are not a political science nerd like me.  The 19th amendment was the one that prohibited the production, sale and consumption of alcohol by everyone in the United States.   In celebration I think we should go out in some public setting and exercise our right to imbibe fermented fruit and grain.  I encourage those of legal age to raise a glass and toast the 21st amendment, one of my favorites..... ( Yes I have favorite amendments.)

I am being silly and flippant, but it really is an important part of the history of the US and how our government can get really out of whack.  At the time that Prohibition was passed women had just gotten the right to vote with the 18th amendment.  There was also a system (forgive me I'm not totally clear on the details) where rural areas had more clout in elections, and state legislatures than urban areas.  So the women in the country, which at this point were still fighting against laws that in many instances treated them as chattel especially after they were married, got it in their heads that if the guys couldn't buy beer they couldn't get drunk and beat the living snot out of their wives.  The reasoning wasn't that bad.  The problem is that our national government wasn't set up to restrict people it was set up to restrict government.  It does a really poor job at restricting the rights of people.  

I think we need to realise that personal choices are important and that in a free society you get to make bad ones if you got the itch to do that.  Libertarian political philosophy takes it a little far for my personal tastes because I think there has to be a basic starting point of knowledge and power before you can really be said to have the liberty to make certain choices.  I mean to really choose you need to know what the options are and have the ability to see at least some of the possible outcomes.  I don't think Libertarians take that in to account enough.... but their ideas a certain appeal to me.  I don't think the majority is always right and even when they are I can be downright obstinate.  I'll drink and smoke and cuss if I damn well feel like it.  And too the fuck bad if it offends your genteel sensibilities.  Now if I drive in a car drunk, if I beat someone up,  that is another matter.  In those cases I'm not offending your sensibilities I'm assaulting  your person.  And one of my favorite Supreme Court Justice quotes (yes I have favorite Supreme Court Justice quotes too) is "your right to wave your fists around ends at the tip of my nose"  In essence saying that you can be as big of as an ass as you want to but you can't infringe on others rights to be just as big of an ass.  

So on that note, don't take your freedoms for granted, and cheers to the 21st amendment.