Friday 19 August 2011

Puritan news of the day


The fanatical puritan temperance crusaders of the anti-alcohol, anti-tobacco, anti-everything persuasion are quite happy, in the interests of their twisted version of the "greater good", to commit the minor sin of lying through their teeth. A favourite method for manufacturing the semblance of evidence is the skewed poll.


The Daily Mail is reporting on what could be a classic of the genre. Here we learn:

The poll, by Benenden Healthcare Society, revealed a fairly widespread dependency on alcohol.

The average Briton starts experimenting with alcohol at the tender age of 14.

Four out of 10 admitted they can’t go longer than a week without having a drink, while 10 per cent said they would struggle to make it through just two days without cracking open a bottle.

Popular reasons for indulging included drinking to 'unwind' (40 per cent) and 'escapism' (17 per cent).

Meanwhile, one in five polled admitted they can’t have fun out on a night out if they don’t drink.
(my emphasis above)

I'm guessing the questions were rather leading. Regarding the points above, who says 14 is young for having a drink (or, as they put it, to give it that druggy, flavour, 'experimenting with alcohol')? What do they mean by 'widespread dependency'? I suspect that is their spin on people saying they like a drink, and see no reason not to have one. What is wrong with having a drink to 'unwind'? And in general, why the fuck is any of this 'shocking'?

3 comments:

Angry Exile said...

I've sometimes wondered about that neo-puritan phrase 'experimenting with alcohol' and what it could possibly mean other than trying different things to see what, if any, you enjoy. This is a pretty every day activity - you can browse books in a bookstore or channel surf for decent TV programmes or take four or five cars for a test drive without anyone thinking anything of it, and certainly nobody would call it experimenting with reading or experimenting with cars or experimenting with TV. I reckon there's been a little too much experimentation with PR bullshit.

Trooper Thompson said...

I'd love to see the puritan temperance fanatics experimenting with the truth for a change.

Angry Exile said...

Probably lots of experimentation necessary before they worked out what to do with it.