In her previous books, Craze: Gin and Debauchery in an Age of Reason and The Incendiary: The Misadventures of John the Painter, First Modern Terrorist, Jessica Warner surveyed vice and revolutionary passion. Now, in an amusing, lateral shift, the CAMH Researcher and U of T assistant professor looks at ways in which they have been reined in. In The Day George Bush Stopped Drinking: Why Abstinence Matters to the Religious Right, Warner recounts the lively history of abstinence as found in two centuries of US social movements on both the right and left. Past targets to prohibit run from the expected to the silly: wars on drugs, alcohol, tobacco, meats both fatty and spicy, onanism and even pickles. All testify to inward-looking desires for personal perfection, and also serve a more paternalistic psychology — to purge the nation of troublesome social problems.

Certain shocking instances drew me into the book: that, for example, the per capita consumption of alcohol from 1790 to 1830 was five drinks a day. You further qualify this with the fact that women and African-American populations hardly drank at all, so that five was probably more like 10.
The per capita consumption for the average white male at that time exceeds belief.

Could you describe walking on Main Street USA during that period?
People would be falling over drunk. If you went into any sort of public space, you’d pretty much be picking your way through spat tobacco. When you look at some of the early initiatives to curb drinking, as well as tobacco consumption and excessive eating, they’re really trying to rein in male vice — in effect, to feminize men just as religion seemed feminized at that point.

You conclude the book with what you deem to be lowering standards among contemporary evangelicals: a shortening of the usual laundry list of taboos, a proliferation of Christian sex manuals, surveys and workshops….
Basically what they have done is prostitute marriage to save it.

What is your next project?
I will be going back to the very early temperance movement — when it was run by the nice guys. They’re the guys who wanted to free the slaves, lift up women and make America a great society. It’s going to use social network analysis to see how movements are actually launched out of existing friendships.

Can you share your insights on the US election candidates?
Well, I am incapable of hiding the fact that I am for Obama — absolutely 100 per cent. I am a dual citizen so I will be voting in the election. You can look at Sarah Palin as an interesting example: she is a Pentecostal and Pentecostals tend to cling to a very gloomy view of the millennium. They’re definitely pre-millennial, so they’re not into social change. Look at what she says on global warming. Basically she is in denial; she couldn’t care less. That’s very consistent to “the world [will] come to an end soon, so you might as well get what you can, while you can.”