Dear compatriots, dear English-speaking friends,
It's time to say enough is enough! Truly, we're fed up! "Dry January"**, "Sober October"**, and moreover, all in English - it's just too much! Particularly in a country renowned for its wine, this form of ethnocide* is backed by the media and some high-ranking Jesuit bureaucrats, funded by the taxpayer, but certainly not representing the majority! Moreover, by using Shakespeare's tongue, a sly strategy that speaks volumes about the courage of the aforementioned, we're fed the idea of "dry" and "sober," suggesting it's not of our making but rather from some vague Anglo-Saxon puritanism that dominates global trends...
Why single out French wine, when tobacco's harms are so glaring? Because French wine is an easier target! Because French wine carries no weight. I'm not referring to its role in our country's trade balance, but to the wine sector's influence in French and European institutions. No industry is more fragmented than the wine sector! This is part of its charm, but also its Achilles' heel when it comes to defending shared interests in the medium to long term. So, how do we bring wine back to our tables post-holidays?
"Those who do not move do not feel their chains," Rosa Luxembourg reminds us. What are we waiting for to take action? What are we waiting for to, at least symbolically, resist these arid and rough "dry" and "sober" movements? Knowing that "resisting" isn't just about drinking wine from January 1st or, as "Damp January" (again, in English!) suggests, promoting the idea of reasonable and measurable individual consumption, which we know is challenging in practice.
To combat "dry" and "sober," we need to understand their target audience. It's "us," "us" as individuals, not as a social group, to whom "dry" and "sober" dispense their advice. With a friendly (in English) but firm ("all studies show", etc.), paternalistic yet guilt-inducing tone, "they" dictate the proper conduct, deliberately ignoring what connects us to others as individuals within a specific social group. If wine is an individual's misfortune, it also undeniably brings joy to the group. Considering the individual cannot exist without the group, wine is an unavoidable evil to prevent a worse fate: the modern utopia of individual happiness, detached from the group, apart from a society without which the individual cannot thrive.
Let's drink, sensibly, sometimes excessively, but never alone, remembering that what truly matters isn't called "sober" or "dry," but fraternity, sharing, and conviviality. Away from screens, around the table, phones off, senses engaged, let's drink wine with family and friends, allowing each of us to slightly exist. Lastly, let's drink wine to give the younger generation the chance to experience these moments of conviviality, which modern society denies them in pursuit of an unattainable individual happiness. We wish you a wonderful New Year's Eve and a sociable start to the year!
*Ethnocide refers to the destruction of the cultural identity of an ethnic group (in this case, France), without necessarily physically destroying the group.
**Dry January and Sober October are campaigns delivered by a collective of associations and national networks where people sign up to abstain from alcohol for the month of January and October.
Olivier Borneuf
La Tulipe Rouge