Alcohol, Modernity and Sex
The AKP has pushed through new laws regulating the use of alcohol in Turkey, which is of course freaking a lot of people out:
The curbs ban alcohol from sports advertising and events for young people, and sales are limited to licensed shops and restaurants. Critics say it will become harder for catering companies to organise wedding parties and similar gatherings. A ruling party official said the rules were put in place to protect young adults from alcoholism. An opposition spokesman said that an "oppressive mentality" was seeking to control Turkey, suggesting that the ruling AKP party was targeting secular lifestyles. But Mehmet Kucuk, whose Tobacco and Alcohol Market Regulatory Board implemented the changes, insisted there was "no ideological dimension to the issue". One small wine-maker told the that, under the new regulations, he could no longer promote his wines via the internet, could not recommend wines to go with certain food, nor hold wine-tasting events. For Turkey's top basketball team – which bears the same title as the beer-maker Efes Pilsen – the changes mean finding a new name. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has publicly voiced his disapproval of alcohol consumption. Last year he said he could not understand why people drank wine when they could just eat the grapes.
Defending the laws, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç recently made what you would think an unobjectionable statement:
Referring to recent new regulation that limits where alcohol can be sold and consumed, Arınç said Saturday the regulation did not intend to intervene into people’s lifestyles but added that freedoms were not limitless.
“Life is not composed of alcohol. Life is not composed of sex either. Some circles who say they have contemporary thoughts perceive [modernity] through alcohol and sex,” Arınç told reporters in İzmir.
“Yes, they are the necessities of life for a human being. We need them and these should be satisfied. But Turkey has the rule of law. In this rule of law, everything has a limit and freedoms are not limitless,” he said.
Now, suppose you were advising the main opposition CHP party here, and suppose you actually had a grain of common sense. Now also suppose--because it's true--that not every voter here is a fulminating Islamist who wishes to see all liberty eclipsed and the Green Flag flying high over the submissive heads of women in burqas with boots stamping in their faces, forever. They're still the minority. But suppose that many voters here are culturally conservative parents who, like parents the world around, worry about their kids getting in trouble with sex and drugs. And they're definitely the majority.
Would you suggest to the CHP that these comments are apt to be a really effective response to Arınç's remarks, just from the vote-winning, showing-the-public-that-you-empathize-with-their-concerns point of view?
“[Deputy Prime Minister Bülent] Arınç’s words aren’t compatible with contemporary life. His perception of modern life is really worrisome,” Umut Oran of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, said Sunday. “Arınç’s remarks reflect his own state of mind and the world of the AKP [Justice and Development Party].”
Hey, CHP--why not just run on the slogan, "We stand for your unmarried teenage daughter getting knocked up! That's our modern vision for your youth!" Maybe use this photo in your campaign flyers?
Personally, if I were advising the opposition, my first words to them would be, "Look, you elitist ankle-biters, do you actually want to win an election?"
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Oct '10
Re: Alcohol, Modernity and Sex
I don't understand why it's so hard to make the case (anywhere) that people must CHOOSE to be 'good' or 'virtuous' - someone is not 'good' just because they've never been exposed to anything 'bad'. In fact, isn't the person who is tempted daily by 'evil', and able to resist, more virtuous than one who is kept locked in a stifling, repressive society from cradle to grave?
I'm not advocating for Sodom and Gomorrah, but if people are not allowed enough freedom to be sinners, what value is there in being a saint?
And another thing - I keep hearing about Islamic Insha'Allah fatalism, that Allah does what he wants, nothing you can do about it. If that's true, why the Islamic need for a theocracy to control every action and thought on earth? The two don't really go together.
Jun '10
Re: Alcohol, Modernity and Sex
It's not about religion; it's about power!
Dec '10
Re: Alcohol, Modernity and Sex
Suppose that you told the parents to act like parents, instead of begging government to do it for them.
If you raise good kids, that stuff takes care of itself (for the most part).
I am also dubious of any advice that starts with the words "If you want to WIN, do . . . ."
If winning were always that simple, nobody would every have to say things like that.