Governments rationalize that the proceeds of those vices can be ascribed to the larger social good. The are able to erase the moral aspect. When indulged in by the lower classes, they are vices; in the intellectual classes, they are indulgences and idiosyncrasies.

Drinking your liquor well has always been to us (West Indians) a part of manhood and being a gentleman. I used to drink scotch. I have a new predilection for martinis. It’s more sophisticated, more belligerently radical.