triethylborane
Well-Known Member
ftfy
You concede that nonsense about the "US in its early days was framed by fun-loving Prussians and religious puritans?"
ftfy
I dont think any UKer can really thumb their nose at our legal system or how interventionist our courts are . . . lets not forget the origin of our common law legal system.
You concede that nonsense about the "US in its early days was framed by fun-loving Prussians and religious puritans?"
While there was prohibition, there was also a time where you could drink and drive in many states - after prohibition.
I dont think any UKer can really thumb their nose at our legal system or how interventionist our courts are . . . lets not forget the origin of our common law legal system.
It's that common origin that makes it easy to spot the differences. Alcohol is one area where the differences are huge, the US legal system still has a lingering distrust of the demon drink, as evidenced by all the daft restrictions on selling/shipping alcohol within the country, the 3-tier system (I get that it was to some extent a reaction against the British tied system, but it doesn't really seem fit for purpose these days) and an age limit of 21, compared to 16 for drinking beer with a meal and 18 for "proper" drinking in the UK. I'm not sure that unrestricted drink driving is an example of A Good Thing - in the UK we only got a formal limit in 1967, before that there was a general restriction of being incapable of controlling one's vehicle that went back to the days of horse and carriage.
Coming from the outside, I'm fascinated to see the glimpses of German culture that show up in US culture, when the role of Germans in US history has been largely forgotten. It's hard to put a finger on it but there's just a certain pettifogging and controlling instinct in much of the detail of US legislation that feels far more German than British - for instance, jaywalking is just not a thing in Great Britain, the idea just doesn't exist. You get it in culture too - there's an obvious strain of German romanticism in the US that feels rather Disney-sickly to Brits who prefer something a bit more bittersweet.
I'm not trying to say one country is better than the other - there's lots to admire in the way US democracy works, for instance the devolution and the improved scrutiny of the unelected bits by the elected bits. But yep, from a European perspective your laws around alcohol have always been kinda nuts. ;-)))
Not sure if this article is visible to non-subscribers, but I'll give it a shot.
If not, the upshot is "Current Massachusetts law prohibits breweries from filling growlers not their own."
https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifesty...nger-effect/Uk5GXQGOrCjgHb7lMwIrdK/story.html
Cheers!
and an age limit of 21, compared to 16 for drinking beer with a meal and 18 for "proper" drinking in the UK. I'm not sure that unrestricted drink driving is an example of A Good Thing - in the UK we only got a formal limit in 1967, before that there was a general restriction of being incapable of controlling one's vehicle that went back to the days of horse and carriage.
That article is old, from 2015. The law was updated, or re-interpreted I guess, in 2017. [...]
Nope, not land of the free...more and more the land of tyranny....But the citizens and taxpayers are used to it and won't complain too much.
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