[Draft] A Promotion of Brewing

[Wabbia]

I am in support of this draft, despite my nation prohibiting alcohol, and we should have more like it.

[Excidium Planetis]

it haz much to do wif beer. we ned to asez teh chancez fr vehicular accidentz in hightechnology soceitiez. thiz honestle stil soundz liek one uv ur problemz. practicale anyone can kwite eesileh deeraiv jump cordinatez frum their obviouz tachyon emisionz. kepin fastr than lite travel secret iz liek tryin to hide uh star chlustr. an if ur computerz arent fule senteint u wreely shud fire womevr r in charge for it, sinz eyeder dey kant ryte kode, aur dey r krayzee pahranoyd.

"Now you are just making stuff up, sir. 'Tachyon emissions', really." Blackbourne scoffs. "No particles are emitted from our ships while warping, negative mass or otherwise."

"Necessary and important are entirely subjective, but cultural preservation and celebration is always valuable, ambassador. Without cultural enrichment, life becomes painfully monotonous. I feel like I shouldn't have to argue why cultural heritage and enrichment is beneficial. It's part of what separates us from beasts."

"There are a great many beneficial things, that enrich life, and yet the World Assembly has not legislated on them. You have mentioned coming several times, but I don't recall any legislation on culinary arts.

"If culture is so important that even very specific aspects of it require World Assembly resolutions, we will soon have resolutions on the promotion of video games, three dimensional film making, figure skating, crochet, and underwater basket weaving."

"That does not follow. Drinking can be accomplished without drinking to excess."

"Indeed. But that will not be what people think when they see a WA resolution about beer up for vote. We have minors even among the Ambassadors here. You are potentially setting a terrible example for them, Ambassador Bell, by posing beer as a great thing, worthy of international recognition, elevated to the status of such things as universal civil rights, the right to educate."

Blackbourne tries to put on an impression of former Ambassador Souldream, or whatever that hippie's name was, but fails pretty poorly. "'It's the right to beer, man! Now we gotta, like, fight for it.' I hope you understand, drinking is not a bad thing, but to actively promote it before an audience of minors, without any kind of disclaimer about the dangers of excessive drinking, is an invitation to trouble."

OOC: Point taken. In the future, I will endeavor not to make jokes in drafting threads. Fucking hell, people, its a proposal about beer. Having a drunk ambassador was meant to be funny.

It may be funny, but that doesn't exclude it from being used as an IC argument against the proposal.

Return to IC:

"Your only meritorious argument against seems to be the cost, to which I must point out that the logical end of that approach justifies never passing a resolution ever again to preserve the coffers. It would be cheaper to disband the World Assembly altogether. Our purpose here is not to clutch at the purse-strings of the GAO, but to legislate to the benefit of the world."

"Far from a logical conclusion. Funds are acquired by the WA to better the world, yes, but those funds should be wisely allocated. We don't have infinite funding, so we should make sure to use what we have for the best possible causes. I do not believe brewing standards take precedence over many of the things we have yet failed to address in World Assembly resolutions."

On an entirely unrelated note, its fascinating that a fairly unique proposal being submitted during a time of activity decline is being painted as a funding sink, when it really wouldn't be very expensive by comparison, and arguments about international relevance when we have an entire category devoted to cultural promotion. The temperance ones I get, but the others are just looking obstructionist in light of the historical decline in activity. :/

My goal has never been primarily to promote WA activity. If that were my goal, I would repeal every resolution I could just to see replacements get passed. My primary goal in the WA is to have a well developed RP, and I find it fits Blackbourne's character to argue about the funding aspect of the WA and how this is not something the WA needs to address.

As for the low activity, we are currently voting on something and I would contribute to activity except that my work hours have gone up drastically in recent months and I don't have much time to argue with GenSec these days.

It also fits within my longstanding position that international legislation is for problems that can only be solved at the international level. Cultural preservation of brewing is not one of them. Even that library we just built isn't something that is necessary to create through WA legislation. I supported it because it offers an IC advantage to Excidium Planetis, whereas brewing (Excidians not being known for their alcohol) does not.

As for your argument that we am have a category for it, and thus it is internationally important: Gun Control. Gambling. Recreational Drug Use.

[Auralia]

I mean, I don't find this proposal particularly offensive or anything, but really? Do we really need an international bureaucracy responsible for promoting beer?

Martin Russell
Chief Ambassador, Auralian Mission to the World Assembly

[Araraukar]

Mostly OOC post. The IC bits are marked as that.

OOC: Point taken. In the future, I will endeavor not to make jokes in drafting threads. Fucking hell, people, its a proposal about beer. Having a drunk ambassador was meant to be funny.

OOC: Maybe you should've had him pass out on stage?

Still OOC: Just a personal opinion, but when it comes to drunk people, the line between funny and unfunny goes somewhere around the point where people whose bodies can't deal well with alcohol (especially beer) tend to become violent. It's a genetic thing, for some reason very common in the Nordic countries. In Bell's case, if you'd had him getting progressively drunk in this thread rather than start with him at the stage where he's already slurring his words, it would've been funnier. You might've started out at a stage that makes people uncomfortable. (One of my little brothers has the abovementioned intolerance of alcohol and right after gaining legal age for alcohol, had an alcohol problem, so I personally am not too amused with drunken shenanigans, and yes, I know my ambassador would probably count as having an alcohol problem. There are good reasons why her intake is so limited now...)

"Our purpose here is not to clutch at the purse-strings of the GAO, but to legislate to the benefit of the world."

IC: How does promoting brewing benefit the world? Or promoting the legalization of alcohol? You know yourself that people develope alcohol problems.

OOC: Considering the promotion of alcohol drinking, shouldn't this go under Recreational Drug Use rather than Education and Creativity?

OOC: It doesn't promote drinking, it promotes brewing. Brewing is as much an art form as cooking.

OOC: You don't really promote it as an art, though, you promote it as an industry, with some drug control relaxation mixed in:

Develop standardized tools, methods, and processes for the structured evaluation, ranking and feedback of beer, mead, and cider by establishing a repository of known brewing styles, including a guide for color, smell, flavor, carbonation, and ingredients.

Organizing and coordinating with member states to promote brewing competitions and beer tastings at cultural events, both international and domestic.

Implores nations to make brewing equipment and ingredients for the small-scale homebrewer available for personal production and consumption.

Urges nations to encourage local communities to establish brewing and beer tasting events representative of their local brewing heritage to create an appreciation for both local and international beers.

It looks like you're only throwing the word tradition in there to justify the AoE.

Funding research into historical impact of beer and brewing on societies, and preserving techniques that may otherwise be lost to time.

This is literally the only part of the proposal that fits the Category/AoE.

"As many cultures with music have alcohol, ambassador. It's been a

Was this intentionally left unfinished?

"Encouragement can be ignored. Your Excellency is welcome to ignore this proposal should it pass."

Well, technically the nations can't ignore being encouraged, as that's why encouragement works as a mild clause, but they can choose to not act on the encouragement.

"Slavery, forced marriage, and infanticide involve the deprivation of rights of a sapient creature."

IC: Alcohol problems lead to many problems that are not limited to the person who does the drinking. You honestly can't be claiming that have people going around with most of their thinking turned off by a chemical substance is a good thing.

OOC: ...There are hundreds of variations on yeast

OOC: All of which are still yeast.

thousands of different kinds of malt

All of which are still malt.

and just tons of hops.

All of which are still hops.

Plus adjuncts

All of which are still adjuncts intended to change the flavour and are, to my understanding, optional.

You see the pattern? The basic recipe itself does not vary. It's the exact ingredients that are used for the recipe, that vary. You can bake thousands of different types of bread, but the basic bread recipe will still involve flour and water. Anything else (including yeast) is just add-ons for variety.

You can't argue that the mere limitation on ingredients itself limits the variation of concoctions any more than you can argue that cars are limited by their component parts. All cars have engines and wheels, but that doesn't make them all the same.

No-one's trying to promote car-making as an art. (Though knowing the people around here, someone will draft that up now, hopefully in the joke thread...)

OOC: There's a difference between promoting brewing in general and promoting the brewing of beer in particular, which is why this proposal is not comparable with promoting music, literature, cultural sites or artefacts.

...yes, that's part of my argument. Why should beer brewing have a special status?

OOC: As I've said at least once before, wine deserves it's own resolution. It's so very pervasive and nuanced that it deserves no less.

Wine: grapes, water, additives. The grapes provide the yeast and sugars. Additives are optional, like with beer.

Now if you were talking solely about beer and wine (and other alcoholic beverages) culture and their historical meaning then yeah, this would be a good fit and could be arguably made into an international issue. But you're promoting brewing. Which is either an industry (when done commercially) or relaxation of drug control for many nations (when done for personal consumption).

As for liquors, I can't lump them in with beer and wine, because beer and wine don't get distilled. Distilling is a different process entirely

Liquour/booze: You start with something that has been fermented and boil it so that the alcohol evaporates and recondences, leaving most of the water behind. Repeat until you've got what you wanted, or (at least in the case of Mythbusters) until something goes hilariously and dangerously wrong.

and besides, if nations are going to make temperance arguments, I'm going to have no luck promoting 100 proof whiskey when I can't promote 12 proof beer.

You shouldn't be promoting beer. You shouldn't be promoting brewing. You should be promoting the historical meaning and traditions involved.

and arguments about international relevance

Arguments about international relevance are always present. They're part of the game.

[Kalata]

"Now you are just making stuff up, sir. 'Tachyon emissions', really." Blackbourne scoffs. "No particles are emitted from our ships while warping, negative mass or otherwise."

i cant sai thiz ingenderz much confidans in ur netionz sceintific capacitie. it r much liek sumone r runnin locomotif an telin uz that ther iz no vibrationz in teh air an no fotonz bean reflectd or emittd. every singl method for fasterthanlite transportashun emitz tachyons wylst in transit or dem large burstes of them durin accelerashun an deecelerashun. most warp fieldz iz basd off teh manipulashun for spacetime. durin teh accelerashun fase win teh spas r bean manipulated ther iz da tachyon puls. durin transit lite refractd off teh bubbl losez some for itz inergy in teh ferm for lowenergy tachyon emisionz. they certainle iz triky buggerz to deetect, buht, il print u some schematicz wich mite be helpful if ud liek.

[Separatist Peoples]

"If culture is so important that even very specific aspects of it require World Assembly resolutions, we will soon have resolutions on the promotion of video games, three dimensional film making, figure skating, crochet, and underwater basket weaving."

"Sure. If those are important enough to the World Assembly, why not?"

"Indeed. But that will not be what people think when they see a WA resolution about beer up for vote. We have minors even among the Ambassadors here. You are potentially setting a terrible example for them, Ambassador Bell, by posing beer as a great thing, worthy of international recognition, elevated to the status of such things as universal civil rights, the right to educate."

"Beer is a great thing worthy of international recognition. Moreso than biological weapons and slavery. Hell, I'm trying to promote something that reflects the good in this world, not fight against the bad. We all need a change of pace."

I hope you understand, drinking is not a bad thing, but to actively promote it before an audience of minors, without any kind of disclaimer about the dangers of excessive drinking, is an invitation to trouble."

"The World Assembly isn't in the business of slapping warning labels on things. You might as well have asked the Bears to put a warning on their Promotion of Beekeeping warning people about allergic reactions to stings and preventing infants from eating honey. That's stupid. We treat World Assembly members as sophisticated actors, not idiots. Though, maybe we should...no! Sophisticated actors!"

It may be funny, but that doesn't exclude it from being used as an IC argument against the proposal.

OOC: That's fucking insane, and I'm deleting any such inclusions from responses and pretending they don't happen. It was a joke. Let it go.

"Far from a logical conclusion. Funds are acquired by the WA to better the world, yes, but those funds should be wisely allocated. We don't have infinite funding, so we should make sure to use what we have for the best possible causes. I do not believe brewing standards take precedence over many of the things we have yet failed to address in World Assembly resolutions."

Bell looks at the queue and looks back at Blackbourne. "Right. I promise I won't submit this while the queue is full of important resolutions. Culture is worthy of protection to some of us, and just because you're determined to be a curmudgeon doesn't mean your opinions are shared."

It also fits within my longstanding position that international legislation is for problems that can only be solved at the international level. Cultural preservation of brewing is not one of them. Even that library we just built isn't something that is necessary to create through WA legislation. I supported it because it offers an IC advantage to Excidium Planetis, whereas brewing (Excidians not being known for their alcohol) does not.

OOC: What a depressing way to play.

OOC: Maybe you should've had him pass out on stage?

OOC: I did imply as much.

IC: How does promoting brewing benefit the world? Or promoting the legalization of alcohol? You know yourself that people develope alcohol problems.

"Brewing is an activity rich in culture and creativity. Promoting both is a benefit in the world where the product is not inherently destructive. And beer is not inherently destructive. No more so than wine."

OOC: You don't really promote it as an art, though, you promote it as an industry, with some drug control relaxation mixed in:

Develop standardized tools, methods, and processes for the structured evaluation, ranking and feedback of beer, mead, and cider by establishing a repository of known brewing styles, including a guide for color, smell, flavor, carbonation, and ingredients.

OOC: That's an evaluative measure, not an industry promoting measure. You can't evaluate something without standards to compare it to. Sure, it's subjective, but you need more than "Yeah, I like this".

Organizing and coordinating with member states to promote brewing competitions and beer tastings at cultural events, both international and domestic.

OOC: Access to artistic products for enjoyment is part of promoting the artistic nature of the art.

Implores nations to make brewing equipment and ingredients for the small-scale homebrewer available for personal production and consumption.

OOC: Access to tools to make such artistic expressions. No different than making sure a state doesn't ban frying pans.

Urges nations to encourage local communities to establish brewing and beer tasting events representative of their local brewing heritage to create an appreciation for both local and international beers.
It looks like you're only throwing the word tradition in there to justify the AoE.

OOC: That was actually a late addition. I'm promoting brewing from the artistic aspect and not the industry perspective, which would entail reducing legal barriers and generating a market.

Was this intentionally left unfinished?

OOC: I probably got distracted halfway through. I do that a lot. Sorry.

Well, technically the nations can't ignore being encouraged, as that's why encouragement works as a mild clause, but they can choose to not act on the encouragement.

OOC: Splitting hairs.

IC: Alcohol problems lead to many problems that are not limited to the person who does the drinking. You honestly can't be claiming that have people going around with most of their thinking turned off by a chemical substance is a good thing.

"Nations are more than capable of regulating their own consumption laws. I wouldn't dare presume to micromanage"

OOC: All of which are still yeast.

All of which are still malt.


All of which are still hops.

All of which are still adjuncts intended to change the flavour and are, to my understanding, optional.

OOC: Not all car engines are the same. Not all fountain pens are the same. Not all chess games are the same, despite there being a finite number of move variations. That's absurd and you know it. You could as well say the same thing about musical composition, since there are a finite number of notes. We all know that's not how it works.

You see the pattern? The basic recipe itself does not vary. It's the exact ingredients that are used for the recipe, that vary. You can bake thousands of different types of bread, but the basic bread recipe will still involve flour and water. Anything else (including yeast) is just add-ons for variety.

...yes, that's part of my argument. Why should beer brewing have a special status?

OOC: See below

Wine: grapes, water, additives. The grapes provide the yeast and sugars. Additives are optional, like with beer.

OOC: Grapes that taste different based on where on the hill they are grown, how much rain there is that year, the composition of the soil...you can't break wine down like that any more than you can break the Mona Lisa down to pigment, vegetable fiber, and various oils. Or singing to mere vibrations of the vocal cords. Obviously it is more than the composite parts.

Now if you were talking solely about beer and wine (and other alcoholic beverages) culture and their historical meaning then yeah, this would be a good fit and could be arguably made into an international issue. But you're promoting brewing. Which is either an industry (when done commercially) or relaxation of drug control for many nations (when done for personal consumption).

OOC: Homebrewing is not an industry, and has never been treated as an industry. I suggest you talk to a few homebrewers. It would be enlightening to see how much like carpentry or sculpture it is treated in those circles. Nobody uses it as an excuse to drink or to make money. Its actually a great money sink.

Liquour/booze: You start with something that has been fermented and boil it so that the alcohol evaporates and recondences, leaving most of the water behind. Repeat until you've got what you wanted, or (at least in the case of Mythbusters) until something goes hilariously and dangerously wrong.

OOC: Fucking hell, have you spent any time doing any of this? There is more to it than you're making it out to be.

You shouldn't be promoting beer. You shouldn't be promoting brewing. You should be promoting the historical meaning and traditions involved.

OOC: The art of the product is what I am promoting, and the cultural specifics are left to the committee.

No wonder this forum is dying.

[Kalata]

OOC: Considering the promotion of alcohol drinking, shouldn't this go under Recreational Drug Use rather than Education and Creativity?

ooc: literally who cares. it doesnt matter.

[Araraukar]

OOC: Considering the promotion of alcohol drinking, shouldn't this go under Recreational Drug Use rather than Education and Creativity?

ooc: literally who cares. it doesnt matter.

OOC: Matters for the legality of the proposal, and legality matters for the passing chances...

---

OOC: SP, I'll get back to addressing your reply after a serious number of hours spent asleep, but I'd just like to point out that I get yelled at when I do this to newbie authors' proposals as they're new, but I do the same to veterans' proposals as well, as you can see. It's not personal, nor is it aimed at your GenSec status, I just do it to all serious proposals that have issues.

As for the activity on the forum - are you kidding? The first three pages have 30 threads by people (or at least accounts) whose names I don't remember seeing here a lot until very recently, which is almost double that of the number of threads (16-17) from veterans, not counting locked threads, legality challenges, discussions, repository threads (including the usual stickies) and at least one obvious joke (the bacon one). WA just passed a newbie author's proposal. Another is at vote. How is that not a lot of newbie activity?

[Sciongrad]

As for the activity on the forum - are you kidding? The first three pages have 30 threads by people (or at least accounts) whose names I don't remember seeing here a lot until very recently, which is almost double that of the number of threads (16-17) from veterans, not counting locked threads, legality challenges, discussions, repository threads (including the usual stickies) and at least one obvious joke (the bacon one). WA just passed a newbie author's proposal. Another is at vote. How is that not a lot of newbie activity?

OOC: That's not entirely fair. The quality of debate in the GA has indisputably declined in recent years. We can't even have a debate on alcohol anymore without devolving into nit-picking and legalism. And while a lot of the threads on this forum have pages of debate, they're often poor debate. Like, three pages about whether something's in the right category, or two pages over some OOC ideological dispute. If I'm being honest, I have to agree with SP here. The criticism in this thread is just not helpful. And the criticism in most threads is just not helpful. It even has me burnt out. After that last 3 page row in the free trade thread where we were literally just debating verifiable facts, I'm sort of tired. If the GA is just about debating categories and whether raising prices on goods raises prices on goods, I don't think this forum is going to last much longer.

[Kalata]

OOC: Matters for the legality of the proposal, and legality matters for the passing chances...

ooc: literally who cares, it doesn't matter, since it will almost certainly be found legal, and we have much better things to do with our time.

[States of Glory WA Office]

Of course, my attempts to RP (Barbera acting as if it's the end of the world and Harold setting off the fire alarm yet again) are ignored, unless they somehow count as "poor debate".

Barbera: Are you attempting to argue that alcohol has the same reach as music, literature, cultural sites and artefacts? When libraries of alcoholic beverages start being built then please let us know forthwith

"As many cultures with music have alcohol, ambassador. It's been a

Barbera: You are unable even to complete your sentences, Ambassador Bell! Look at what alcohol has done to you! This is why it ought to be banned in all member states!

"There are 1,039,239,580,844 distinct kinds of brewing products native to member states." Bell says, holding up an official report.

Barbera: Nonsense. Everyone knows that non-brewing nations outnumber brewing nations eight to one or whatever the latest statistic is.

Barbera: This proposal encourages such practices nonetheless, does it not? Even the mere encouragement of restrictions on interstellar warfare is enough to insult various spacefaring nations; why is alcohol the exception?

"Encouragement can be ignored. Your Excellency is welcome to ignore this proposal should it pass."

Barbera: Encouragement to restrict interstellar warfare can be ignored. The Excidian and the Tinfectian Delegations are welcome to ignore such proposals should they pass.

Barbera: We must request that you actually address the arguments rather than dismissing them as logical fallacies without any substantiation.

"Slavery, forced marriage, and infanticide involve the deprivation of rights of a sapient creature. Neither disco nor brewing do. Its a strawman argument that is beneath you, ambassador."

Barbera: Alcohol is a vice that ruins the lives of innocent people, their families and their friends. Why should it not be placed on the same level as slavery, forced marriage and infanticide? In regards to disco music, it deprives the rights of all sapient creatures to avoid having to listen to absolute garbage.

Fairburn: I was waiting for you to say something like that. Welcome to the club!

Barbera: Do not talk to me of clubs. They are the breeding points of both disco music and alcohol. They are sinful locations that ought to be shut down for good.

Barbera: Alcohol is both appalling and harmful. Therefore, if the brewing of alcohol ought to be considered an important cultural practice then so too should the engagement in disco music, as distasteful as you may find it.

"I never argued that disco music shouldn't be considered an important cultural practice. It's a kind of music and dance that emerged in the context of social shift during a dynamic time. It is as much a piece of cultural heritage as baroque or rock'n'roll."

Barbera: For the love of all that is divine, Ambassador Bell!...if you should pardon my blasphemy, of course. Next, you will be arguing that Harold's cream pies are an important piece of cultural heritage!

Harold: But they are! Each one is specially crafted for and hand-delivered to each individual face...I mean mouth! Wanna try some?

"'It's the right to beer, man! Now we gotta, like, fight for it.'"

Rowan: (suddenly wakes up) Preach, brother!

Fairburn: Seriously, why haven't the security guards removed that numpty from the WAHQ yet?!

Rowan: Chill, Fairburn, dude! I'm just hangin', yo. Can't a guy relax in this day and age? (goes back to sleep)

Fairburn: (growls) I hate that guy. I hope he dies of a cocaine overdose or something equally nasty.

[Araraukar]

Of course, my attempts to RP (Barbera acting as if it's the end of the world and Harold setting off the fire alarm yet again) are ignored, unless they somehow count as "poor debate".

OOC: Typically when I post on an RP account in full RP mode, it either gets totally ignored or the arguments are pooh-pooed as being RP, or just flat out get called something-wank... it's not very encouraging to do any proper RP. Plus RL references and in-depth legality issues just can't be done in RP... Oh well.

Saw your thing in the Joke Proposals thread, by the way.

[Bears Armed]

Artorrius wanders into this chamber after a brief visit* to the Strangers' Bar, carrying a quart glass of Grinness (a 'dark' beer that's produced under licence in Bears Armed although it was actually invented elsewhere).
He reads a copy of the proposal, grins, and looks up.

"Full support!"



(* so brief that mention of it doesn't appear in the Bar' own thread)

[Araraukar]

"Hell, I'm trying to promote something that reflects the good in this world, not fight against the bad. We all need a change of pace."

I think the problem lies in the word "good" there, Benjamin. Alcohol of any kind is rarely considered good by those who don't want their populations to be impaired and poisoned, along with all the additional issues that will result from abusing the "poison". If you like beer, you see it as good for you. I've always thought it tastes like something had died in your mouth two weeks ago. Also, studies¹ show that getting drunk on beer gives you a worse hangover.

"The World Assembly isn't in the business of slapping warning labels on things."

Umm... yes it is.

"...Promotion of Beekeeping..."

That reminds me, see how that resolution has been written up as free trade? It could've been environmental if not for the last two clauses. This one you have reads more like advancement of industry; it needs beefing up on the educational and cultural side if you want it to fit in your chosen category.

"We treat World Assembly members as sophisticated actors, not idiots. Though, maybe we should...no! Sophisticated actors!"

We might all be sophisticated fabricators of the truth, Ben, but that wouldn't change the fact that we're all liars. I mean, just look around this room. We've got all kinds of aliens and talking animals - no offence meant, Arrtorios, I'm classing you as an alien instead of an animal - here, and sapient machinery, and some people rode a horse to get here and some arrived in a space ship that flies faster than light and some people probably teleported here, and so on. Do you actually tell your superiors the full truth about what goes on in here? Or do you cover up the fact that your proposal failed or passed because a four metres tall green space giant with four arms² made a convincing argument in the debate? Treating the people back home as naive idiots is pretty much the only way to write resolutions that have a chance of actually getting obeyed by the populations of the member states. Sophistication rarely gets factored in.

"Culture is worthy of protection to some of us"

Culture, yes, but brewing in itself not so much. Like I said before, you need to focus more on the cultural aspects, and not try to create an annual drunken festival³ where getting drunk is the main point, with only just enough bells and whistles to pass it off as something traditional.

IC: How does promoting brewing benefit the world? Or promoting the legalization of alcohol? You know yourself that people develope alcohol problems.

"Brewing is an activity rich in culture and creativity. Promoting both is a benefit in the world where the product is not inherently destructive. And beer is not inherently destructive. No more so than wine."

Wine is just as bad. In taste and effects both. But when we're talking about "beer culture" or "wine culture", the actual process of making it tends not to be a very large part of it. The associated agriculture and the history of alcohol making are just as important in most human societies, as are all the modern day effects - both good and bad - that result from the drinking side of it. Your fixation on the brewing is working against you here. At least consider including something about education in there to make it sound less commercially-oriented.

"Nations are more than capable of regulating their own consumption laws. I wouldn't dare presume to micromanage"

Yeah, you're just making a WA committee do it for you. By the way, if you're mostly focused on beer - what with cider and mead being as different from beer as wine is - you should name this thing "Promotion of Beer", or else change all mentions of beer to include all your promoted beverages or use a more generic term. I'd also suggest adding something somewhere in this about this not restricting nations' ability to set age limits on alcoholic beverages and the brewing of them, to take out at least part of the "promotion of a recreational drug" aspect. I'd also like to point out that if you're so focused on the "art" and taste, you probably shouldn't be promoting alcohol consumption, since alcohol-free brewed beverages⁴ exist.

OOC:
¹Mythbusters tested the saying "beer and liquour, never sicker" by getting Grant and Tory drunk first with beer and then later with half of beer and half of liquour, with managing the total alcohol dosage so that it was the same both nights. Both of the guys felt much worse hung over after the evening they'd been drinking only beer. I know it's not a proper scientific study with just two participants, but hey, I'm trying to join in the "funny references" thing.

²These guys. No, I haven't seen anyone RP as them (for some reason), but they make a good reference point. Also, the males are nearly 5 metres tall, but as females are a bit shy of 4 metres, it averages out to "about 4".

³Oktoberfest, which, funnily enough, happens mostly in September. Though these days they've tried to make it a bit less of a rowdy frat party for grown-ups.

⁴What English Wikipedia calls the stuff I've come to know as "kotikalja" in Finnish. "Kalja" being one word for "beer", "koti" being the word for "home". It's a kind of home-brewed beer with practically no alcohol - children can drink it, too, and the homebrewing kits they sell for it, have the kind of yeast that doesn't naturally produce any/much alcohol to begin with. If you let it ferment until you get enough alcohol for it to not be legal for kids, it'll go off and likely be undrinkable anyway. Similar to how home-brewed sima doesn't (or shouldn't) contain so much alcohol that it wasn't suitable for kids.

OOC: I'm promoting brewing from the artistic aspect and not the industry perspective, which would entail reducing legal barriers and generating a market.

OOC: I know "art" is connected to "artesan", and one could at least technically call a brewer an artesan, but an artist? No. Just, no. Go for the artesan approach, that fits in better with cultural heritage.

OOC: Splitting hairs.

Says person who sits in the Council Of Splitting Hairs.

And now that we're in OOC, what is your opinion, as a GenSec member, not author, about an AoE proposal that only has mild-strength language?

OOC: Not all car engines are the same. Not all fountain pens are the same. Not all chess games are the same, despite there being a finite number of move variations. That's absurd and you know it. You could as well say the same thing about musical composition, since there are a finite number of notes. We all know that's not how it works.

Hence I wouldn't even try to promote just one type of music, but instead of music as a whole. In relation to beer that would either be the traditions and history related to alcoholic bewerages as a whole, or even the higher tier of "culinary arts".

OOC: Grapes that taste different

That wasn't the point. SoG said "On the other hand, there are only so many methods in which beer may be brewed, so it is entirely possible that some nations use exactly the same brewing method as other nations." Method does not mean the variance in the exact recipe and ingredients.

any more than you can break the Mona Lisa down to pigment, vegetable fiber, and various oils.

Well, it fits the category of "oil paintings", and there are only a few many methods to make an oil painting. The exact pigments used and the actual picture created are not relevant to the method itsel.

OOC: Homebrewing is not an industry, and has never been treated as an industry.

Never said it was. I said commercial or personal. All the promoting you do, doesn't specify non-commercial production. If you did, I wouldn't be making this argument.

I suggest you talk to a few homebrewers. It would be enlightening to see how much like carpentry or sculpture it is treated in those circles.

And the artesan side of it is exactly what you should be going for, not promoting beer festivals. Think "culinary", not "alcohol".

OOC: Fucking hell, have you spent any time doing any of this? There is more to it than you're making it out to be.

"Distillation" is a process of separating evaporating components from a compound mixture. The different methods (like fractional distillation, steam distillation, vacuum distillation) are still just different methods of distillation. During my lab studies I had to make several syntheses, where the end product was distillated from the resulting mixture to purify it, usually in several steps to remove various impurities from it.

Remember, we're not talking about exact recipes, we're talking about methods.

OOC: The art of the product is what I am promoting

You're mostly promoting production and consumption. Even if some artesanal skill is needed in the production, you're not really promoting it as art. It could as well be called a science, which it more often is these days...

Not related to the resolution's contents: Do you prefer this post's total distillation separation of IC and OOC and notes to a mixed brew content post?

[Excidium Planetis]

i cant sai thiz ingenderz much confidans in ur netionz sceintific capacitie. it r much liek sumone r runnin locomotif an telin uz that ther iz no vibrationz in teh air an no fotonz bean reflectd or emittd. every singl method for fasterthanlite transportashun emitz tachyons wylst in transit or dem large burstes of them durin accelerashun an deecelerashun. most warp fieldz iz basd off teh manipulashun for spacetime. durin teh accelerashun fase win teh spas r bean manipulated ther iz da tachyon puls. durin transit lite refractd off teh bubbl losez some for itz inergy in teh ferm for lowenergy tachyon emisionz. they certainle iz triky buggerz to deetect, buht, il print u some schematicz wich mite be helpful if ud liek.

"I'm afraid sir, that everything you just said is fiction." Blackbourne informs. "Tachyons don't even exist. The Higgs field doesn't allow for negative mass values. I find your criticism of my nation's scientific advancement quite rude, and your misinformed reason for such criticism is laughable."

"Sure. If those are important enough to the World Assembly, why not?"

"I see you would rather have the World Assembly throw its money away on promotion of obscure and useless cultural activities than deal with serious international problems such as the lack of enforcement for World Assembly provisions, nuclear warfare, space warfare, planetbusting weapons, nations who circumvent WA law by hiding behind puppet shams that they claim are nations and so deceive whoever it is who decides admittance to the World Assembly, international currency for ease of trade and international travel, lack of recycling in some nations...

"Honestly, Ambassador Bell, it seems you have fallen far if you have switched from such a noble goal as regulating warfare to promoting the production and consumption of alcoholic beverages."

"Beer is a great thing worthy of international recognition. Moreso than biological weapons and slavery. Hell, I'm trying to promote something that reflects the good in this world, not fight against the bad. We all need a change of pace."

"The world is a cruel place that needs the WA to fight against the bad. And it needs to promote the good, too, sometimes, but it is rather debatable that beer reflects the good in the world."

"The World Assembly isn't in the business of slapping warning labels on things. You might as well have asked the Bears to put a warning on their Promotion of Beekeeping warning people about allergic reactions to stings and preventing infants from eating honey. That's stupid. We treat World Assembly members as sophisticated actors, not idiots. Though, maybe we should...no! Sophisticated actors!"

"The World Assembly has not only legislated on warning labels, but has slapped what you would call warnings on its resolutions before. The first one that comes to mind is resolution three-fifty-four, which warns against rampant nanobots in the same resolution which promotes the rights of sapient machines. You should really think of the children, Ambassador Bell."

OOC: That's fucking insane, and I'm deleting any such inclusions from responses and pretending they don't happen. It was a joke. Let it go.

It's fucking insane that Bell being drunk is evidence that people who drink beer might get drunk?
Or is it fucking insane to use RP precedent in an argument?

Neither one of those seems insane to me. The WA has a long history of using RP precedent in IC arguments because it is a roleplay forum. Likewise, one drunk person is clearly evidence that some people who drink might get drunk.

Bell looks at the queue and looks back at Blackbourne. "Right. I promise I won't submit this while the queue is full of important resolutions."

"I don't suppose you also promise to repeal this resolution when another important resolution comes along, deserving of more funding." Blackbourne says. "The bureaucracy always expands, but when new programs are started, the old ones are never cut. Instead, more funds are acquired. You wish to spend GA funds on beer brewing standards simply because, at the time, there is in your opinion nothing else deserving of funding, but likely do not intend to stop spending those funds on beer brewing when the WA needs them for something else. Instead, the GA will simply take more money from member nations."

OOC: What a depressing way to play.

OOC
Actually, alcohol is depressing. Roleplay is not.

"Nations are more than capable of regulating their own consumption laws. I wouldn't dare presume to micromanage"

"And yet you do not seem to believe that nations are capable of setting their own brewing standards and promoting their own brewing culture. Instead, you seem to believe that the World Assembly must help nations promote brewing culture and must set standards for brewing."

[Araraukar]

"...and must set standards for brewing."

Eh, if only. Ben's current wording doesn't set any standards on anything but - apparently - ranking what beer tastes best.