Lessons From History: Prohibition in America

[HolyLiaison]

The industry continues its crusade to scare the average consumer away from p2p with the flood of pay sites and the ever present lawsuit if identified today. This makes many wonder what the future holds. When one wonders about the future, it is wise to look at the past. One has to ask themselves, "Has this series of actions ever happened in the past?" To answer this question will mean that this happened even before the Great Depression happened on October 29th, 1929 known as Black Tuesday.

What this event was is the time of prohibition. Also known as the Volstead Act, basically forbids the sale of liquor as well as the mere consumption of it. On one minute past midnight in January 16th, 1920, this act went into effect. This left many in America either dry or resorting alternate ways of getting what they wanted. Those enforcing this law were very much caught unprepared and faltered miserably. Even at times, in order to catch or arrest offenders took underhanded or questionably legal ways. Plus the fact that when arrests occurred, a huge media spectacle followed. This crusade continued until the futility was realized and increasing pressure from the people of the land. The end of prohibition was in February of 1933.

Now with this recap, there are many similarities one can see. 1. The power of the consumer outweighed the enforceability. 2. Even at the height of it all with those like Elliot Ness and the so-called (Untouchables), many saw the futility. 3. By passing laws so opposed by the people caused repercussions that even exist today now 80 years later (Mafia and the drug cartels).

Both consumers and the industry should pay attention to the above example in history. When looking ahead many will hope the industry will ask themselves how hard can they really push. The similar facts between the 2 subjects are the industry was caught way unprepared to handle p2p. Also it counts on their propaganda being believed by the mainstream media that sharing is illegal when much of the content still lacks studio quality.

The bottom line is the hope of learning from the past and not making mistakes that leaves problems well into the future.

Here's the lesson:

Hard though it may be to believe, there was a time when the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages was a crime in the United States. Yet, at one minute past midnight on January 16th, 1920 the prohibition of the sale and consumption of alcohol became law, sanctioned under the Volstead Act, which was ratified in January of 1919. The law carried with it some heavy penalties. Fines of up to $1,000 were imposed on those caught defying the Volstead Act. Those who were unable to pay their fines faced a six month jail term.

The Anti Saloon League of America was instrumental in the passage of the law to outlaw alcohol. Convinced that ridding the country of the demon drink was the only way to preserve Christianity, they were delighted with the new law. Many others, however, were less than pleased. There were, in fact, many attempts to defy it. In Texas, a still was found on the property of Senator Morris Sheppard, who had been instrumental in the drafting of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which had brought about Prohibition. Foreseeing future corruption in the law enforcement agencies as a result of the Volstead Act, future New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia commented that, it would take a police force of 250,000 to enforce the Prohibition Act and another 200,000 to police the police.

True to La Guardias prediction, Prohibition spawned organized crime, bootlegging and corruption among the police on an unprecedented scale. It is fair to say that the Volstead Act indirectly gave rise to the American Mafia, along with its most famous figure, Al Capone. Capone, along with many others, including Kennedy family head Joe, made huge amounts of money running bootlegging operations from Canada all the way to Florida. Capone found a rival in the form of former attorney George Remus. Remus was a successful lawyer when Prohibition came into effect. He soon noticed that his criminal clients were making more money than he was from their bootlegging activities. Convinced that he could outdo them in the illegal alcohol business he became intimately aware of the Volstead Act. He soon found a loophole wherein he could buy distilleries and pharmacies in order to sell alcohol to himself under Government license for medicinal use. The liquor would disappear on the way to market. He moved to Cincinnati and bought up 9 whiskey distilleries. Remus bribed many officials in order to keep his operation going, including a half million dollar gift to the U.S. Attorney General.

Speakeasies soon flourished across the country. These were underground saloons. By 1925 there were more than 100,000 speakeasies in New York alone. The job of the Prohibition Enforcement agency was a hopeless one. It was also demoralising. The 3,000 jobs of the Prohibition Agency were held by 10,000 different men over a six year period. Still, throughout the Prohibition years millions of gallons of alcohol were confiscated. By the late twenties Prohibition was becoming a very unpopular reality. Democratic Party Presidential candidate Al Smith campaigned against it in 1928. Although he lost the election, Smith did manage to weld together a groundswell of discontent against Prohibitionism. Four years later, the Democrats again used Prohibition as an issue and this time their candidate, Franklin Roosevelt was swept into the White House. In February of 1933 Congress passed the 21st amendment which repealed prohibition. On December 5th of that year the 21st Amendment was ratified. America was no longer dry!

Sources:

http://www.slyck.com/news.php?story=513

http://inin.essortment.com/prohibitionamer_refo.htm

Edited June 21, 2004 by HolyLiaison

[DudeAsInCool]

You could easily draw a similarity between alcahol prohibition then and flesharing today. Scary, isnt it?

[Ken]

True, but the article has nothing to do with file sharing, and does not link to an article that has anything to do with file sharing.

I will give him a few days to perhaps write his own comparison and commentary.

Otherwise, I’ll move the thread to a more fitting category. Nothing personal, just trying to make sure the categorization is correct.

[DudeAsInCool]

I will give him a few days to perhaps write his own comparison and commentary.

Good idea, Ken. Are you up to the challenge, Holy Liaison?

[Ken]

I'd love to see it dude. I think he has the knowledge to write a damn good comparison article.

[Kooperman]

Ken will, quite obviously, be known as the Al Capone of file-sharing. Just hope he's got anti-virus protection that Big Al failed to use......

[Ken]

Never I tells ya!

The idea and implication of organized crime, specifically one that hurts others, sparks an almost violent resistive thought in my mind; one that wants it all to be destroyed.

I can't even bear to watch the Sopranos, because I find the idea of glorifying the idea of hurting and intimidating others (intimidation is the key word that sets me off) to be repulsive.

[HolyLiaison]

I edited it a bit. Reread it if you wish. ;)

[slum_goddess]

very thought-provoking article HL, thank you.

to Ken: i mislike all kinds of physical violence but i do love watching the Sopranos, i feel it's a comedy not to be taken seriously.

[Redneck4sure]

Ken will, quite obviously, be known as the Al Capone of file-sharing. Just hope he's got anti-virus protection that Big Al failed to use......

yup, ol' Big Al was dying to do something and died from doing it! He definately needed an upgrade on his virus protection.

[Ken]

Super.

It'll stay in this category.

Good job!