Dystopia around Prohibition POD

[GameBawesome]

When talking about the concept of Dystopias, we usually discuss it in a POD like "Axis winning WWII" or the "Soviets taking half of the world", usually stuff in the 20th Century and a strong totalitarian theme to them. Is it possible for a dystopia based around a POD during American Prohibition?

Prohibition was either a fun time or not-so-fun time. On one hand, the Eighteen Amendment prohibited the production, importation, transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages in the USA. But on the other hand, this wasn't really feasible to enforce, and drinking actually went up in some places due to speakeasys, while gangsters battled for control over the alcohol trade.

Sidenote: This brings me to Wayne Wheeler, the leading advocate of Prohibition and of the Anti-Saloon League, and frankly the most extreme. He supported draconian measures, such as poisoning alcohol to try to dissuade people from consuming alcohol. This turned people against Prohibition, but Wayne would die before seeing what he fought for get repealed.

I believe a Prohibition POD can either take two forms:
1. Prohibition is passed and heavily enforced - This is where the US government take extremes measures in enforcing Prohibition, to the point of totalitarian, even going as far as suppressing opposition against Prohibition.

2. Prohibition is passed and isn't enforced at all - This is where the US Government passes Prohibition, but does nothing at all. This leads to gangster taking over the trade, and becoming more powerful than OTL

What are your thoughts? What do you think of a dystopia POD centered around Prohibition? Do you have any ideas?

 

[EasternRomanEmpire]

When talking about the concept of Dystopias, we usually discuss it in a POD like "Axis winning WWII" or the "Soviets taking half of the world", usually stuff in the 20th Century and a strong totalitarian theme to them. Is it possible for a dystopia based around a POD during American Prohibition?

Prohibition was either a fun time or not-so-fun time. On one hand, the Eighteen Amendment prohibited the production, importation, transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages in the USA. But on the other hand, this wasn't really feasible to enforce, and drinking actually went up in some places due to speakeasys, while gangsters battled for control over the alcohol trade.

Sidenote: This brings me to Wayne Wheeler, the leading advocate of Prohibition and of the Anti-Saloon League, and frankly the most extreme. He supported draconian measures, such as poisoning alcohol to try to dissuade people from consuming alcohol. This turned people against Prohibition, but Wayne would die before seeing what he fought for get repealed.

I believe a Prohibition POD can either take two forms:
1. Prohibition is passed and heavily enforced - This is where the US government take extremes measures in enforcing Prohibition, to the point of totalitarian, even going as far as suppressing opposition against Prohibition.

2. Prohibition is passed and isn't enforced at all - This is where the US Government passes Prohibition, but does nothing at all. This leads to gangster taking over the trade, and becoming more powerful than OTL

What are your thoughts? What do you think of a dystopia POD centered around Prohibition? Do you have any ideas?

1. The persons who did this have destroyed their entire political career is over and sooner or later they will be removed from power because of anti-democratic behaviour and prohibition is even more discredited than IOTL
2. They can't do nothing because then you have passed a law so you have to act accordingly

 

[AnywhereButOTL]

For option #2, you could have William Hale Thompson, best known for being Mayor of Chicago during Capone's heyday (and very probably on Capone's payroll), become President. He did run for the Senate in 1918, which could have been the start of a national career had he won...especially with a highly contentious, deadlocked GOP presidential convention coming up in 1920 (taking place in Chicago no less).

If he wins in 1920 then you get a government uninterested in giving Prohibition anything more than lip service, while engaging in levels of corruption that would make Warren Harding's cabinet blush.

 

[Mildtryth]

When talking about the concept of Dystopias, we usually discuss it in a POD like "Axis winning WWII" or the "Soviets taking half of the world", usually stuff in the 20th Century and a strong totalitarian theme to them. Is it possible for a dystopia based around a POD during American Prohibition?

Prohibition was either a fun time or not-so-fun time. On one hand, the Eighteen Amendment prohibited the production, importation, transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages in the USA. But on the other hand, this wasn't really feasible to enforce, and drinking actually went up in some places due to speakeasys, while gangsters battled for control over the alcohol trade.

Sidenote: This brings me to Wayne Wheeler, the leading advocate of Prohibition and of the Anti-Saloon League, and frankly the most extreme. He supported draconian measures, such as poisoning alcohol to try to dissuade people from consuming alcohol. This turned people against Prohibition, but Wayne would die before seeing what he fought for get repealed.

I believe a Prohibition POD can either take two forms:
1. Prohibition is passed and heavily enforced - This is where the US government take extremes measures in enforcing Prohibition, to the point of totalitarian, even going as far as suppressing opposition against Prohibition.

2. Prohibition is passed and isn't enforced at all - This is where the US Government passes Prohibition, but does nothing at all. This leads to gangster taking over the trade, and becoming more powerful than OTL

What are your thoughts? What do you think of a dystopia POD centered around Prohibition? Do you have any ideas?

The problem with 1 is that it most likely wouldn't pass at all with that sort of heavy federal enforcement - that would require a massive budget that Congress, given the prevailing mood when it came to finance, would not be willing to give in the first place. For example, Wheeler asked Congress a only five million-dollar appropriation for all federal enforcement of Prohibition (a sum that wasn't enough to cover the annual payroll of Columbia University), because he knew that it was a fool’s errand to risk defeat by demanding sizable appropriations from Congress.

2 sounds rather difficult - i mean, if they didn't intend to do anything, then it'd be easier to not to bother with a constitutional amendment and a federal act and just leave the individual states to legislate on that sort of thing themselves, which was the state of affairs as of 1917.