At the moment the local supermarket is selling Leffé for £1 a bottle. How on earth they can sell it cheaper than it costs in Belgium where it’s made, I’ve no idea, but it’s one of those rare instances that I love capitalism in it’s seductive unethical way. At the moment the UK government is proposing a minimum pricing system for alcohol, with the idea that this will save lives.
Here’s a snippet from an article in The Telegraph,
“A recent official study found that setting a minimum price of 30p per unit would prevent 300 deaths a year, 40p about 1,000 deaths, and 50p more than 2,000 premature deaths.”
However, the cost of this extra tax to drinkers is estimated to be £700 million a year. Don’t get me wrong, I would never say that we shouldn’t try and save lives in this world, but increasing taxes in England, on one of the only things that seems to make this country a little easier to live in, I think, it’s a terrible idea. We already pay some of the highest taxes in the world on certain things, and the fact that in international terms our alcohol is quite cheap is a good thing if you ask me. So, is it a difficult argument? Well maybe, but I don’t think so. Don’t get me wrong, alcohol is a serious drug, more serious than it’s given respect for in general, but an alcohol problem is a symptom of other problems, not a problem in itself. The issue once again comes down to self control. If you drink yourself to death, it’s tragic, but you had the choice not to and you made a poor decision. Should everybody in the country be treated like a basket case with the same kind of propaganda that if we make things more expensive it’s good for everybody?
Now I know statistically the estimates are that if you increase the prices more people will live. But statistically if you increase the number of jobs in the country more people will live. If you make education free, more people will live, earn more money and be healthier and drink less.
I’m a bit sick of this kind of ‘treat the symptoms’ rubbish rather than treating the cause and also in some ways, a little bit weary of this new cult of health that’s consuming the first world. These days is it possible to look in the mirror and be satisfied? These days can we not go out and do something unhealthy without it being a big deal? What kind of future would it be entirely populated by health freaks that compare the calories of different packets of salad?
People who drink enough alcohol to do damage to their bodies are responsible for that decision. I don’t think it’s fair to treat everyone in the country as if they can’t control themselves and are a population of raving alcoholics. Yeah in England we drink a lot as a nation but according to recent statistics from the World Health Organisation, Britain is ranked 16th in drinking levels worldwide. That’s not first, that’s not second, that’s way down the list.
Also, drinking is in our culture. It’s what we do. Look at this from the economist:
As you can see, the places where they hardly drink anything are mostly Islamic or Buddhist countries (smoking a huge amount of weed instead). Countries where the cost of alcohol is three times what it is in the UK do not drink significantly less, eg Australia, Denmark, Finland. In Spain, the country that I’ve been to with the cheapest alcohol, they drink less than in the UK. I’m not sure unit alcohol price is the issue.
The way I see it, in my simple opinion, is that by increasing the alcohol unit price you’re just going to make people poorer in doing something they’re going to do anyway. If you want to save people from themselves give them opportunity. Give them free education, training, things to do, inspiration and just by the way of life they will drink less alcohol because they won’t be trying to numb the pain of poverty and hopelessness.
This whole thing reminds me of something I heard that I’ll never forget. You can listen to Redd Foxx by clicking play at the start of the post.
