{"id":10448,"date":"2015-03-28T20:15:10","date_gmt":"2015-03-29T00:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/?p=10448"},"modified":"2022-08-01T07:43:04","modified_gmt":"2022-08-01T11:43:04","slug":"unenlightened-self-interest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/2015\/03\/unenlightened-self-interest\/","title":{"rendered":"Let’s Drink to Unenlightened Self-Interest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many human afflictions have plain<\/em> names and fancy <\/em>names.\u00a0 For instance, swelling <\/em>is the plain name and edema<\/em> is the fancy name.\u00a0 Itching<\/em> is the plain name and pruritus<\/em> is the fancy name.\u00a0\u00a0Greed<\/em> is the plain name and unenlightened self-interest <\/em>is the fancy name. Bedwetting<\/em> is the plain name and… well, I should stop there.<\/p>\n

The philosophy of enlightened <\/em>self-interest maintains<\/a> that “persons who act to further the interests of others … ultimately serve their own self-interest.”\u00a0 The unenlightened<\/em> version\u00a0 goes something like this: “Persons who fail to further their own interests ultimately lose out to those who do.”\u00a0 Friends, welcome to our unenlightened world.<\/p>\n

A classic example of unenlightened self-interest is found in the alcoholic beverage laws of the various states.\u00a0 I was recently (and not for the first time) reminded of these laws when I went to purchase a bottle of wine at my local supermarket, along with other items for a dinner my wife was preparing for an ailing neighbor.\u00a0 It was a Sunday morning, 11:48 am.\u00a0 In North Carolina, you cannot buy wine or beer on Sunday until noon, so I had to kill time in the store before I could check out and go home.<\/p>\n

What was the point?\u00a0 What moral or legal principle did I respect by waiting ten minutes to buy a bottle of wine?\u00a0 None that I see, and I think most people would agree, this is absurd.\u00a0 That being the case, why do such logic-defying laws remain on the books?\u00a0 Look no further than unenlightened self-interest.<\/p>\n

The table below shows where various alcoholic beverages may be sold, for the three states I have lived in over the past sixty-odd years.\u00a0 Each has its own odd restrictions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
STATE<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nBEER<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nWINE<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nLIQUOR<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
New York<\/span><\/td>\nGrocery Stores<\/span><\/td>\nWine Stores
\nLiquor Stores<\/span><\/td>\n		Liquor Stores<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
North Carolina<\/span><\/td>\nGrocery Stores
\nTaverns<\/span><\/td>\n		Grocery Stores
\nWine Stores<\/span><\/td>\n		State Stores<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pennsylvania<\/span><\/td>\nDistributors
\nTaverns<\/span><\/td>\n		State Stores<\/span><\/td>\nState Stores<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Of these, Pennsylvania has the most restrictive rules on alcohol sales, New York the least.\u00a0 It must be because Pennsylvania drinkers are the most wanton and depraved, compared to those in neighboring states.\u00a0 There can be no doubt that thirsty Pennsylvania drinkers, if they were to be provided more convenient ways to buy the beer, wine and spirits of their choice, would pour out onto their potholed streets in a\u00a0Walking Dead-<\/em>style rampage, lurching from one establishment to the next and drinking the state dry, one case at a time.\u00a0 No choice, then, but for the state government to step in and protect Pennsylvanians from themselves.\u00a0 Drunken sots, the lot of them.\u00b9<\/a><\/p>\n

It might seem that New Yorkers (who drink 2.17 gallons<\/a> of ethanol per person per year) and North Carolinians (2.05 gallons) are not all that more sober than Pennsylvanians (2.26 gallons) and therefore warrant similar restrictions on alcohol sales.\u00a0 But that would involve logic<\/em> — and we can’t have any of that running loose, not when money is involved.<\/p>\n

The perverse world of alcohol regulation was brought to the forefront just last week when the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board decided to relax its rules on beer sales.\u00a0 Previously, a distributor (think drive-thru beverage depot) could only sell beer by the case, but thanks to the PLCB’s highly controversial<\/a> decision, it may now sell 12-packs and 18-packs as well.<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania’s thousand-plus beer distributors are happy enough.\u00a0 The Malt Beverage Distributors Association of Pennsylvania (MBDAPA), the lobbyist for distributors, is crowing about its accomplishments<\/a> on its website:<\/p>\n