TLDR: Anti-Alcohol movement? Nothing new…

I’m not sure what this says about us, but humans started making alcohol about 3,000 years before we invented the wheel.

Priorities…

Booze has been intertwined with human history ever since and continues to evolve and transform with us and our culture.

In the same vein, there is a long history of anti-alcohol movements.

I’m sorry Gen Z, you might have discovered Tik Tok dances, but “sober-curious” has been around for a few hundred years.

So before we decide the recent 3% decline in alcohol volume is the death bell of an ancient industry, let’s see if history has anything to say.

Temperance in the USA

Andrew Huberman also wasn’t the first person to discover that alcohol consumption can have negative side effects.

Dr. Benjamin Rush, George Washington’s Surgeon General during the Revolutionary War, wrote national articles in 1777 about the associated risks of liver problems, diabetes, gout, and madness for alcohol consumption.

A major cultural movement against alcohol consumption started gaining steam in the 19th century.

It was dubbed “the Temperance Movement” and was spearheaded by a very specific and determined demographic…

Christian white women.

On one hand, it’s an incredible story of a suppressed people group, who didn’t even have the right to vote, galvanizing a movement to empower legislative change against the odds.

On the other hand, as is often the case with our complicated history, the motives weren’t entirely pure. The US was experiencing a major influx of immigrants whose cultures were closely tied to alcohol: Irish (Whiskey), Germans (Beer), and Italians (Wine).

Much of the rhetoric for this movement centered around protecting our culture from the influence of unsavory foreigners.

Prohibition

In 1914, an event skyrocketed the popularity of the Temperance Movement.

The start of World War 1.

As you might imagine, public sentiment towards German and Italian culture took a bit of a hit (along with the industries associated with them).

Riding the wave of anti-german sentiment, the Temperance leaders secured a temporary “Wartime prohibition” and shortly after, the 18th Amendment which banned the sale of alcohol in the US permanently.

Takeaway 

The prohibition era was wild and shaped our culture in a thousand untold ways.

But I want to stop here and draw attention to the fact that for 13 years, alcohol was illegal in the United States.

Beer and wine were seen as the spawn of foreign devils. Drinking was both unpatriotic and unchristian.

Rock Bottom…

And the alcohol industry brushed it right off.

A strong underground industry thrived throughout Prohibition, and after it was repealed in 1933, it came back with a vengeance.

Within a few years, the percentage of Americans who consume alcohol bounced back and has stayed remarkably steady since.

Nobody can predict the future, but as for me, I’m not particularly nervous that the industry won’t weather today’s cultural pressures.

Side Note: Today’s three-tier system is also a result of prohibition and a really interesting story for another time.

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