Canada on the whole has had a seriously fucked up relationship with alcohol, this is poignantly illustrated if you read this Wiki article about the history of the AGLC.
This article is amazing, so let's get this straight: Albertans vote to ban alcohol, then can't stick to their decision, making their ban a massive failure and bringing about the predecessor to the AGLC and effectively putting the control of alcohol in the hands of the state. The state doesn't drink: humans do. Why the fuck did this happen? Are people actually this stupid? Baffling...
I am inclined, from viewing the situation from the outside, to say this is an obvious cash/power grab by the government/mafia. I mean let's apply the most basic and fundamental tenet of investigative journalism: follow the money/power. Who stands to benefit the most from a liquor control board? Is it A) the people, or B) the governing bodies? Not hard.
"But we need to make sure alcohol doesn't end up in the hands of children"
No we don't dummy, kids in France can buy booze - it's not an issue. Further there is hoards of evidence that shows that the social problems we have that are caused by alcohol are made much worse by control/prohibition. This doesn't stop at alcohol, drugs too. Check out Portuguese drug policy.
Further - humans have an interesting subconscious drive, psychologists call it the 'Thanatos Instinct', this drive causes people to seek out things that would be detrimental to their overall wellbeing. As in: people will be bad on purpose, just for the sake. If you tell people liqour or drugs are 'bad' they seek it out more than if you put no label on it. Look at college students: crazy binge drinking right? Why? Because they can. They were prohibited from doing it and now they are allowed to, and worse, they have a "fuck you" kind of attitude towards being told not to do it the first place. So they drink with vengeance because you told them not to.
This is basic psychology. Anyone who is even a reasonably good observer of human behaviour can see this in action. Duh people, duh. The worst part is that the government and corporate world have known about this forever and have been exploiting your dumb ass this whole time. Graphic warning labels on cigarettes sell more cigarettes!
Then we get to the issue of ID.
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| Let me see your papers! |
I am not required to carry ID nor am I required to have it at all, or provide it - ever. Why? Because it's my fundamental human right to identify myself as whatever the fuck I want, whenever I want. No state has any right to require me to identify myself in any particular way.
The AGLC doesn't care about your rights because they require that you must physically posses a government issued picture identification card. What if I don't have one because I am not a member of any government other than myself? My right to engage in commerce is harmed because of someone else's insanely twisted morality. As in: I can't buy a Guinness from their brewery in Ireland, which should be a private transaction between two parties, because the AGLC will send armed mercenaries after me. Literally.
Why does this sound like some kind of Nazi-esque totalitarian insanity? Because it literally is. When the state tells you what to do instead of the other way around you have socialism, the word 'Nazi' is an abbreviation from the German term for 'national socialist'. Nazism is socialism and socialism is Nazism. Which makes the AGLC Nazis.
I don't like Nazis. In fact it could be said that I fundamentally oppose them. One may even say that the mere fact that the AGLC exists is corporeal proof that most humans are dangerous, mentally deranged Nazis. At least in Alberta anyway... and eighteen American states.
It doesn't end with them just being fascist control mongers either, they're also a government sponsored unlawful scam!
How about this craziness from Wiki:
"Although liquor is retailed in Alberta by private interests on a competitive basis, like its predecessor the AGLC has maintained a monopoly over the wholesaling of wine, coolers, imported beer and spirits. The AGLC is the wholesale-level purchaser of these products and thus Albertan liquor taxes (which are still high compared to taxes in the U.S.) are termed as the liquor markup. The wholesaling operation itself is mostly handled by Connect Logistics, a contract distributor based in St. Albert. Maintaining a monopoly over the wholesale business allows the AGLC to maintain tighter controls over liquor distribution than an entirely privatized system would allow. In particular it allows the Government of Alberta to ensure that it does not miss out on any "markup" (the bulk of the liquor tax in any Canadian province, including Alberta is the provincial liquor markup)."
The have a monopoly and they charge "markup" (supposedly "not for profit") AND they're run by the government. Monopoly = scam, markup for a non-profit = scam, not for profit = scam, government = scam. Do I need to make this any more clear? The AGLC is fucking Albertans in the ass and calling it a government service. It's the same as calling rape a service: "There you are - all "serviced" up, oh and by the way that will be twenty dollars".
If you meet someone who works for these assholes - berate them for selling out man and his integrity and for being a Nazi stooge and finally for being legally entitled rapist. Then you should suggest that they hang themselves. The "Board" members should be tried, convicted and imprisoned for their crimes against humanity. They are criminals and should be treated as such.
Don't let the Nazis win: DOWN WITH THE AGLC!