The battle of the nip is over and the United Liquor Sellers (ULS) has won over the “Plastic Pickers of Plymouth.” Alcohol addicts can continue drinking while driving and throwing those tiny vessels of joy out of car windows. And we, the people of the United States’ hometown, can continue picking up that garbage from our streets.
In this battle, the liquor sellers spent five times more than the plastic pickers. The sellers’ money came from many big and small liquor [organizations] of Massachusetts, Kentucky and other out-of-state locations. The alcohol solidarity worked well.
The pickers’ pitiful war chest contained small donations from local citizens who tried to defend their environment. In vain they quoted scientific proof that nips are not recyclable, that drinking while driving is dangerous, that nips cost more per gulp than bigger bottles. They lost this referendum and “democracy in action” triumphed.
But was it democracy in action or something else? According to a dictionary, democracy is “a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.” The elected representatives of Plymouth banned the nips, but the booze sellers nixed their decision by pumping propaganda into people’s minds.
One American folk wisdom has a different definition: “American democracy is the best that money can buy.” And another pertinent definition says: “Plutocracy is a system of rule by the wealthy, directly or indirectly.” What else is new? Money talks, democracy walks – walks from Plymouth to Washington and farther, so the battle of nips is not over.
Anatol Zuckerman