Hagai Segal
צילום: זום 77
The answer to alcohol
Leaders who cut education budget later forced to raise vodka taxes
The price of alcoholic beverages in Israel rose significantly this past week. This is even more painful than the rise in water prices, because water gets more expensive as result of a shortage in water, while alcohol gets more expensive because we have too much alcohol around here.
Israel went from being a country intoxicated by sun to a land intoxicated by vodka, and the authorities are resorting to desperate measures in order to curb this plague. They believe that should the taxes imposed on alcoholic drinks skyrocket, our youths will drink less.
Well, this conviction does not seem to be well founded. The taxes imposed on vehicles in Israel are among the highest in the world, yet so is the number of accidents here. People did not stop buying cars and driving wildly through red lights just because cars cost a lot of money.
Illicit drugs are also expensive, yet nonetheless they are a rather popular product. In fact, poor people consume them even more than wealthy people do. Hence, it is hard to believe that high taxes on alcohol would minimize the problem of drunkenness around here.
So what will minimize the problem? Mostly education. The more time our youths spend in the presence of adult role models, the less they will seek happiness-inducing liquids. If they cannot find such role models at home, then at least it can happen at school.
Only good and dedicated teachers would be able to expand a youth’s world beyond the pub and the bottle, while presenting to him or her additional areas of interest.
Good and dedicated teachers cost a lot of money, of course, yet it is better to invest in them than to invest in rehabilitation clinics. Those who cut the education budget are eventually forced to raise the taxes on vodka.
