Sunday, June 07, 2009

A Glimpse of Our Future?

I recently went north, to Montreal. Throughout Quebec, liquor is distributed through the Société des alcools du Québec, or the SAQ. It is a Crown corporation, the Canadian term used for a state owned enterprise, their political language still reflecting Canada's intimate political ties to England. (As a side note, characteristic of the SAQ are higher prices reflecting a state monopoly and oppressive - and self-righteous - sin taxes paying for national healthcare.)

I bought a bottle of white wine and my friend a bottle of Crown Royal. Canada being a so-called progressive nation, eco-conscious and environmentally friendly in every silly way, the provincial authority responsible for liquor sales has actually ceased providing any shopping bags for their customers.

Get that? You buy alcohol, you walk back home (or ride your bike along the perennially frozen bike lanes that now dominate the city's roads) without the assistance of a bag. No choice, not even the option to pay $0.05 to obtain a bag so as not to look like a drunkard walking home at 2pm with a bottle of whisky in plain sight. Pay the clerk, get your change, and walk away with a bottle in your hands. Are you readying yourself, America? Nakedly parading alcohol down city streets is what happens when a population surrenders their lifestyle choices to an elected elite that knows no boundaries to their power.

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