Booze jab

This is merely one of many thoughts which has flitted through my mind as we grind our way through increasingly preposterous and disturbingly totalitarian coronavirus nonsense.

Pure fantasy this one, but suppose it becomes possible to vaccinate people against excessive alcohol consumption. This would be an extension of current treatments for alcohol abuse. Once vaccinated, people would lose any inclination to drink alcohol except in moderation, maybe because because the taste would become increasingly bitter and unpleasant. Or some other effect perhaps. The effect of the vaccination would be long-lasting or even permanent.

It doesn’t matter how plausible the idea is, the question which arises is now more obvious than ever thanks to the coronavirus mess. Would governments encourage take-up of the vaccine among young adults and possibly children? Would official encouragement eventually shade into mass coercion?

This is not a suggestion that such a development is a genuine possibility. It is mere speculation. A way to suggest that there appears to be no limit to the depths of government social engineering. In a free society there should be some kind of limit. The coronavirus mess suggests this is not so.