Coming before the Minneapolis City Council is a discussion of whether Happy Hours, or more specifically, drink specials, should be banned in an effort to control binge drinking around the University of Minnesota. This is a preliminary proposal, so I hope people don't flood our City Council with comments that can be construed as counter-productive.
So, earlier this evening I was enjoying a special on champaign. Under such an ordinance, this would be impossible. No champaign deals for those of us who somehow managed to survive college. It did make me think about just what my obligations to civil society are when political society usurps my obligation to be responsible. What can we expect of people if we simply legislate behavior? I spent some time with Aurelius, Cicero, The Federalists and Hume looking for answers. I couldn't spend long, but did come away convinced that at some point, we have to have an expectation that parents will teach their children about over-consumption. If we legislate such expectations, what do we leave for the parents? Guess I'm going to have to go back to the books for answers.
Do not believe everything you hear on TV or the internet, folks, especially from this shoddy report. There is no action to ban happy hour before the Minneapolis City Council. A community advisory committee of residents is looking at binge drinking - that's all. There is no such policy before the city, no city resources went into this idea and no one is going to ban happy hour.
Posted by: Jeremy Hanson | February 18, 2009 at 04:37 PM