Sometimes I like the game of making connections between things that are seemingly unlinked.  I don’t know how useful this practice is, but it’s fun nonetheless.  So, let’s try this one:  what is the connection between John D Rockefeller, modern alcohol regulation, and global warming?  The answer is Prohibition.  Hmmmm….Prohibition?

Yep.  Back in the later days of John D. Rockefeller (that is, in the 1910’s and 20’s), when this country was still mostly rural and most of the population farmed the land, farmers very often did two things on their farms that they don’t do today:  grow hemp (no, not for that, silly, but for fiber, mostly, and for oil and feed for livestock) and distilled alcohol (yes, for drinking, but also to run engines, such as the Model T Ford, which originally ran on alcohol).  Although the Industrial Age had gained steam (so to speak) by this time, cottage- or farm- level production satisfied most people’s needs and local economies tended to be relatively diversified.

John D. Rockefeller who was the founder of Standard Oil was also a Baptist and supported the temperance movement with his religious convictions and his money.  The temperance movement was a combined movement between utopian moralists and various Christian religions to promote the concept of alcohol as the root of all evil in society.  It was said to have caused violent and unsociable behavior, spousal and child abuse, disease, and also caused employees in industry to be late, unproductive and unresponsive to direction.  So, Mr. Rockefeller’s combined interest in business productivity and his religious persuasion caused him to make big donations to the Anti-Saloon League (and, some say, to most of Congress as well) which was instrumental in pushing the constitutional amendment to outlaw alcohol.  But doesn’t it seem more than coincidental that outlawing domestic alcohol production would effectively remove the biggest competitor to oil as a fuel?  Given Mr. Rockefeller’s reputation of being a far-sighted, keen and heavy-handed businessman, one might have the grounds to speculate that this effect on the competition was more than a by-product of religious belief.  (Incidentally, Mr. Rockefeller also figured prominently in outlawing hemp in both Canada and the US, but that will remain a subject for a blog of a different subject…).

So, America’s little constitutional attempt to destroy stills across the country (such as this one in the photo) and get on the wagon ultimately failed (both John D Rockefeller Sr. & Jr. publicly recognized that it was a failure) because as it turned out, violence, contempt of authority, and tardiness at work only increased during that time period.  The economy was also in the dumps as well.  But although Prohibition was ultimately repealed, it’s legacy remains in two unexpected ways:  modern alcohol regulation and a dependence upon Big Oil.  Of course, back in Rockefeller’s day, no one could have predicted that this country would eventually become addicted not to Texan oil but to Middle Eastern and that grave environmental consequences would result from this addiction.  They also couldn’t have known how pervasive alcohol regulation would become.  So in this age of global warming and can’t-go-to-the-store-to-buy-red-wine-in-Massachusets, let’s give three cheers to robber barons, bureaucrats and tax collectors!