Introduction
Creativity exists a tenet of novel strategy that provides an acute and results-oriented process to existing problems. While creativity remains imperative in everyday solutions of predicaments, the overall success or imminent failure of the creative process as an insightful, and a rational means to an end is governed by the general approach and processes engaged. A myriad of decisions, policies, and laws in the United States have been subject to the creative thinking process. Evidentially, some have been successful, and some have failed. This essay will troubleshoot the general creative process that led to the failure of prohibition laws in the United States, explain how and why the laws failed, and finally propose tentative solutions to the problem.
Discussion
Timeline of alcohol prohibition
Alcohol production, sale, and consumption has remained a subject of differentiated debate paradigms such as the ethical foundations, morality, legality and health concerns. Moreover, the principality of the direct and indirect damages associated with alcohol such as financial wastage by the consumers, family problems arising due to the vice, poor quality of work by people who consume alcohol and the resultant poor living conditions remain significant (WHO, 2014). Consequentially, the government has consistently been trying to prohibit alcohol production. Moreover, religious and societal movements have also been major parties in lobbying of policies against alcohol production, sales, and consumption. Since the 1980s, alcohol and other forms of drugs have faced critical attempts to eliminate them from the mainstream through laws, movements, religious affiliations, and national and international campaigns.
Different kinds of creative structures, systems and policies have been enacted over time in an attempt to prohibit alcohol use. For instance, in 1869, Christian women formed a temperance movement that campaigned for the outright and direct banning of alcohol from the preexisting philosophy of sensible drinking. During the 1890-1920 progressive era, there were amped prohibition efforts which saw bars and saloons closed; drinkers scolded and the culture of alcohol consumption branded as evil. In 1917, the government through congressional laws enforced prohibition at a national level which was later repealed due to public and industrial concerns; mostly due to the scales of the economics that shifted as a result of the same (Blocker, 2006). Recent years have seen great campaigns that lobby for alcohol prohibition but the efforts are met with indirect resistant forces that curtail the efforts.
How and why alcohol prohibition fails
As much as the alcohol prohibition campaigns have a morally justifiable element, the efforts continue to be fruitless for many reasons. One of the reasons for failure has been the methods that have been used. For instance, the use of direct action such as force where anti-alcohol movements harass bars, saloons, and the customers create even more friction that encourages people to drink alcohol in private settings at a more alarming rate. The government decisions, policies, and laws are mostly made in enclosed structures free of opinion and active inputs from the public also constitute to the overall failure of the anti-alcohol efforts (Friedman, 2013). Additionally, copyrights and trade laws between companies and the government regulatory boards have remained a primary cause for continued alcohol production, sale, and consumption. The copyright laws ensure that alcohol producers continue manufacturing alcohol even amid protests and negative outcomes of the products. The laws protect them and the customers as long as the products are used in the correct way and within legal frameworks. Therefore, no one can force anyone to produce, drink and sell alcohol if the process happens within the legal statutes and copyrights agreements (Harris, 2012). Consequentially, prohibition becomes almost impossible to achieve. Moreover, the legal ability and constitutional provisions to repeal banning of alcohol permanently remains to be a critical threat to alcohol prohibition.
Creative solution to the alcohol production, sale and consumption menace
The issue regarding alcohol prohibition remains adamant in resolution basing on the instituted laws, statutes and individual opinion. Therefore, alcohol prohibition laws can only be strengthened, amended and restructured to accommodate regulation and control aspects. For instance, the government through congressional regulations can enact and pass legislation that governs the amount of alcohol content that can be contained in alcoholic drinks to be even smaller than the current percentage. For example, the Volstead Act of 1919 estimated that intoxicating amount begins from 0.5 % to 2.75% alcoholic content (Harry &Craig, 2004). Therefore, it would be advisable for all alcoholic drinks to abide by the regulation.
Another solution would be to espouse and promote temperance from an individual, religious, societal and national level. Since production, distribution, sales and consumption of alcohol cannot be banned permanently, then people should be taught about the possible effects of alcohol consumption. For instance, the public needs to be educated in the family, financial, health and work productivity outcomes as a result of taking alcohol.
Conclusion
The issue about the banning of alcohol remains a contentious and highly debated topic within the legal, moral, ethical, and religious paradigms. The methods and strategies applied by the different ambassadors of banning alcohol have been faced with a myriad of contextual and legal flaws that highly curtail the overall positive outcome towards totally impeding the production, sale, and consumption of alcohol. It is evident that factors like lack of public inclusion by the government in making of laws regarding alcohol production and consumption, and copyrights that protect producers and consumers remain the primary reasons for why the product cannot be banned mostly due to lack of correct reasoning and rational approaches towards resolving the issue. Measures such as control, regulation and promoting temperance can be applied to at least reduce and minimize alcohol consumption.
References
Blocker Jr, J. S. (2006). Did prohibition really work? Alcohol prohibition as a public health innovation. American journal of public health, 96(2), 233-243.
Friedman, M. (2013). Why government is the problem. Hoover Press.
Harris, D. P. (2012). New Prohibition: A Look at the Copyright Wars through the Lens of Alcohol Prohibition, The. Tenn. L. Rev., 80, 101.
Harry G. Levine and Craig Reinarman (2004). Alcohol prohibition and drug prohibition. Lessons from alcohol policy for drug policy. Amsterdam: CEDRO.
WHO: World Health Organization. (2014). Global status report on alcohol and health. World Health Organization.
