I'm only done with Part 1- I think there's four- but I couldn't help but put some of my thoughts down. I'll keep it brief.
First of all, I found out where the terms teetotaler and bootlegger came from. Teetotaler comes from the days before Prohibition, when beer had never been a big problem, but whiskey was becoming one. Some people thought beer was still ok, but others were for total abstinence: total with a capital T. Teetotalers.
Bootlegger is a little less interesting- once alcohol was banned in certain cities, people would go around selling sips from a bottle strapped underneath their pant leg. I don't think I ever wondered where those names came from, but now I think it's neat to know, and thought I would share.
I really, really recommend this film even though I haven't seen it all yet. It is so interesting. Ken Burns really does a nice job of putting the pieces together; you can really see the good intentions and innocent assumptions, the danger of zealots, and the wisdom of moderation. There are such easy parallels to be made with marijuana- did you know that a full THIRD of federal revenue came from taxes on alcohol? Advocates for prohibition recognized that that money would need to be replaced, so guess what? Welcome to federal income tax. Oh, and the blatant misinformation that was fed to children about the dangers of alcohol: spontaneous combustion? If your platform is legitimate, you shouldn't have to make up information. Ahem, Fox.
Anyway, fantastic documentary. And after seeing just what led up to Prohibition (differences in culture, rural deeming of city life as immoral, fear of minorities), and its immediate effects, such as the massive numbers of jobs that were lost (bottlers, deliverymen, waiters, etc.), I felt as though I could start to see the breeding ground for the Great Depression. Maybe that's crazy, I don't know. Ten years doesn't seem that long to me in economic terms. I can't wait for disc 2.
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