A recently published book argues that alcoholism in Russia has been promoted by the state - be it tsarist, communist, or whatever you choose to call it now - as a deliberate means of keeping the population in check and preserving autocracy.
Vodka has a political purpose. Its an interesting argument, because generally its held that nations like Russia tend to have populations that prefer iron-fisted autocratic rule, but seldom is there an explanation about why that's the case. According to this theory, the population doesn't really choose it at all. They are lulled into accepting autocratic -authoritarian rule. It's a twist on the bread and circuses that kept the Roman population entertained during the Roman Empire.
It was also a consistent source of revenue for the state.
- Click here for vodkapolitics.com.
- Here's a review of the book.
- Click here for vodkapolitics.com.
- Here's a review of the book.
The work’s author, Mark Schrad, an assistant professor of political science at Villanova University, deftly weaves sociological data into a rather alarming portrait of a country brimming with binge drinkers. Presenting the book recently at the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars in Washington, DC, Schrad cited World Health Organization data to show that Russians’ annual consumption of pure alcohol is roughly 15.7 liters per capita. Excluding children and abstainers, Schrad says that this figure boils down to the average Russian male drinker consuming two bottles of vodka and 13 beers per week.
Placing Russia in a broader context, Schrad suggested that Russia bucks geographic trends. Generally, as one travels northward, wine consumption turns to beer consumption. But Russians, who readily admit that wine and beer taste better, favor vodka since “it is something you do to get drunk. You down it as quickly as you can” since it tastes “horrible.”
Schrad contended that alcoholism is not “hard-wired” into Russian society. Instead, he argued that Russia’s problem with alcoholism is “an outcome of generations of autocratic government that has reaped the benefits of the intoxication of the population.”
Noting how Stalin tried to get his colleagues inebriated in order to manipulate them, Schrad argued that Russia’s rulers have applied this approach to their population for centuries. They see mass alcohol consumption as a means of keeping the population “discombobulated” and “off-balance” and “unable to mount a challenge to the government itself.”
