Russian Anti-Alcohol Posters: Propaganda or PSA?
[11.03.07]
Every society has, at various points in history, struggled with it's relationship to mind-altering substances. While I would certainly consider alcohol to be at the low end of the innocuous—insidious scale, there can be no arguing that if given the right conditions, it can wreak it's own brand of havoc on both an individual and societal level.
Campaigns against the "scourge" of alcoholism, whether it be Britain in the 17th and 18th centuries, or the U.S. during Prohibition, are nothing new. Russia, of course, is no exception; the country has persistently fought high rates of alcoholism, as evidenced by these fascinating posters.
It's not surprising that public campaigns such as these get off the ground. Alcoholism does nasty things to people. But the problem with these campaigns is that they fail on two levels:
Widespread spikes in alcoholism rates typically correspond to increased levels of poverty and socio-political oppression. So is poverty and oppression the result of alcoholism, or vice versa? The answer is not as simple as most temperance movements make it out to be.
[via Jay Brooks]
Every society has, at various points in history, struggled with it's relationship to mind-altering substances. While I would certainly consider alcohol to be at the low end of the innocuous—insidious scale, there can be no arguing that if given the right conditions, it can wreak it's own brand of havoc on both an individual and societal level.
Campaigns against the "scourge" of alcoholism, whether it be Britain in the 17th and 18th centuries, or the U.S. during Prohibition, are nothing new. Russia, of course, is no exception; the country has persistently fought high rates of alcoholism, as evidenced by these fascinating posters.
It's not surprising that public campaigns such as these get off the ground. Alcoholism does nasty things to people. But the problem with these campaigns is that they fail on two levels:
- They equate alcohol consumption with alcoholism, and;
- They blame alcoholism for many of the very things that feed it: violence, depression, job loss, etc.
Widespread spikes in alcoholism rates typically correspond to increased levels of poverty and socio-political oppression. So is poverty and oppression the result of alcoholism, or vice versa? The answer is not as simple as most temperance movements make it out to be.
[via Jay Brooks]
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