The Washington Post reports that Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell is making progress on his proposal to privatize the state’s liquor stores. That’s good news, but what’s really interesting are the comments on the story. Commenters overwhelmingly oppose the idea. A sampling:
One of the nice things about living in Virginia, is not seeing big “LIQUOR” OR “CUT RATE LIQUOR” signs on every corner.
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Virginia’s ABC stores are clean, quiet, civilized, and a good neighbor on the block. I’ve never been in a commercial liquor store that wasn’t ugly and dirty.
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People aren’t clamoring for privately owned liquor stores in Virginia. In fact, to many of us, the well run, neat, and safe Virginia ABC stores are highly preferable to the seedy private liquor stores that you see in other states.
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I agree with most of the comments posted. If it’s not broke - don’t fix it. All in all, the Virginia state store system works. While prices may not be as low as those in D.C., they still are competitve. Let’s not sacrifice a system that works for a short term, one-time injection of cash.
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Agree that it is nice to have clean liquor stores and not ghetto liquor stores on every corner like in other states.
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I completely agree with those who point out that having the ABC stores selling liquor means I don’t have to see billboards and signboards on every corner advertising cut-rate liquor. It’s one of the nice things about Virginia.
It’s hard to imagine any good reason why the state would be better at selling liquor than profit-seeking business owners. It’s a safe bet that none of these commenters are particularly into spirits. While Virginia stores might be clean, they’re also completely soulless: The same convenience store atmosphere and poor selection at all of them. The employees usually have no knowledge of the products they carry, prices are high, and if your tastes go at all beyond the basic brands they probably don’t have what you’re looking for. Spirit lovers either buy in DC, buy online, or suffer without.
People who aren’t into spirits have no incentive to care about this. Ads for sale prices are of no interest to them, though people who drink are happy to receive the information. The same applies to the poor selections. Who cares if you can’t find creme de violette in Virginia? A handful of consumers and specialty entrepreneurs might, but the law prevents them from doing business together and is not easily changed.
Call it the Beer We Got principle, after Alabama representative Alan Holmes’ classic speech objecting to a bill to legalize high-alcohol beers in his state (starts about 5:30):
Yeah, what’s wrong with the beer we got? I mean the beer we got drink pretty good, don’t it?
To the uninterested consumer the “X we got” will always be good enough. That’s why the state should pretty much never be in the retail business.
[Via @ivangosorio.]
Previously:
Go, Bob, go!
Virginia’s Archaic Beverage Commission
Jacob Grier is a freelance writer, barista, mixologist, and magician in Portland, OR. He writes, eats, and drinks a lot. His articles have appeared in The Washington Post, Reason Online, The Oregonian, and other publications.
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