Let us equate alcohol and it's effects to the relationship that good and evil share. We shall assume for the purpose of this argument that alcohol is the liquid equivalent of good, while the consequences of consuming too much alcohol, such as hangovers, unwanted pregnancies, fat, are the alcohol-related manifestations of evil. Now, when we drink alcohol, we feel a sense of euphoria, fun, laughter, etc. We lose our inhibitions and feel the courage to do things that we normally wouldn't do. However, many of these "good" effects of alcohol are swiftly exchanged for horrible physical, mental, emotional by-products. What was once a loss of shackling inhibition becomes, the next day, an awkward situation as one sits naked next to a person or animal who he or she does not want to be next to at that moment. Then regret sets in. Or the loathsome hangover, causing nausea, vomiting, uncontrollable urges to eat smoked meat and fried eggs. Again, all of these after effects we will describe as evil.
Now, the point of this exercise. Alcohol is good when it allows us to enjoy ourselves more than we usually would. However the consequence of that temporary enjoyment is, again, temporary discomfort, shame, embarrassment, etc. Therefore, I ask the question, if alcohol did not exist, would these evil consequences then cease to exist? In our cases, I hope this is true, because I can only assume that if I don't drink enough to kill the entirety of the Moroccan Barbary Ape Regiment in the span of an enchanted evening in the bars and gutters of the Chicagoland area, then I will most likely avoid the evil consequences of overindulgence of alcohol. However, if I go without any alcohol whatsoever and any of the same bad effects of said alcohol consumption do occur, then I have nothing to eat, am allergic to shellfish, and the world is my rotten oyster.
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