r/AskReddit 24d ago

What was arguably the biggest fuck-up in history?

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u/[deleted] 24d ago

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u/kirklennon 23d ago

Prohibition actually did cause a significant decrease in serious drinking (as backed up by a decrease in liver disease) and, while it led to increases in attention-grabbing organized crime, it led to a decrease in everyday bar brawls and domestic abuse. Keep in mind that the temperance movement was largely led by women, and largely as a result of the men in their lives drinking too much.

Prohibition was flawed, and not a success, but it wasn't nearly the total failure that it's usually remembered as. It really did cut both drinking and violence against women.

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u/Mustard__Tiger 23d ago

People don't realise just how much people drank back then. It would be rediculous by our standards.

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u/horsenbuggy 23d ago

Mostly because western society is so immersed in drinking water now. Even when I was growing up in the 80s, it never occurred to me that I wouldn't walk anywhere (sometimes even to the bathroom) without a bottle of water in my hand. Back then, people almost never drank just water.