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America has a drinking problem

theatlantic.com

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Re: America has a drinking problem

#341

Post by jffry »

ripdog wrote: post #334

>Now some grocery stores have wine bars, beer on tap, signs inviting you to “shop ’n’ sip,” and carts with cup holders. What the hell?! That's absurdly irresponsible and dangerous considering most people travel to the grocery store in a car. Why aren't local authorities stamping down on this?

Should suburban restaurants with parking lots and no pedestrian infrastructure be forbidden from serving alcohol?

What about one that is served by public transit, but still has a parking lot out back?

Where is the right place to draw the line?

Re: America has a drinking problem

#342

Post by rrrrrrrrrrrryan »

lovegoblin wrote: post #93
throwaway894345 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also drink about this much per week. I like a beer or wine or whiskey every now and again, but I've never really seen the point in getting buzzed or drunk (or high for that matter). When I do drink, I only have 1 or 2 at a time, not out of an express desire to stay sober, but because I'm usually pretty naturally satisfied by that amount. For whatever reason, I like sobriety. It's strange to me that people should th…

> It's strange to me that people should think we need a religious motive to prefer sobriety I would not at all be surprised to see a strong correlation of people who are religious and people who never drink. Even "one drink a week" or whatever is a significantly different category than "zero drinks, ever."

I'll bet some sizable chunk of the people who don't drink at all do it for medical reasons. (e.g. Older people on prescription medications).

Re: America has a drinking problem

#343

Post by pedalpete »

trts wrote: post #29

I decided to give up alcohol for a year. That was three years ago and doubt I will ever go back. Aside from having better sleep than at any other point as an adult, I truly enjoy the activities I partake in just as much, if not more, than when I still paired them with alcohol. It took about 6 months to stop feeling like I was missing out, and now I feel like everyone else is. Anxiety in general is noticeably lower (t…

I'm in a similar boat. I stopped, but without a timeframe for how long. I just knew I had to cut back, but that wasn't working well, so I just stopped, and when I was offered a drink, I'd say "I don't drink", because here in Australia, I find if you say no to a drink, it's mostly forced on you. The statement put an end to that.

However, I also internalized being an non-drinker. It became part of my identity.

I don't notice a measurable difference in my life, which is also part of the reason I didn't pick it up again. It wasn't enriching my life, but I'm also not a better person without it.

Having said all that, I am still looking for a replacement for what to drink when I do go to a bar. So far nobody has hit the right mixture of a drink that isn't defined by being non-alcoholic, but replaces the "I deserve this" attitude of having a drink .

Re: America has a drinking problem

#344

Post by angrais »

panzagl wrote: post #234
czbond wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mine came from feeling like junk even after 1 beer/wine/cocktail the next day. I experimented with thinking it was an allergy to grains, allergy to hops, wine quality - but I think it's just alcohol.

Could be, but in general Americans obsess more about health than other nations, which also can be traced back to our Puritanical heritage.

I'm not sure if you're serious with both your arguments here: Americans obsess with their health? They have one of the highest rates of obesity globally ...

Likewise, how does this have anything to do with religion (Puritanical heritage)?

Re: America has a drinking problem

#345

Post by TacticalCoder »

ashtonkem wrote: post #300
Barrin92 wrote: post #135

Article mirrors my experience. For context I'm German, my wife's French and we've got family in Croatia who own a vineyard so I'm used to being around alcohol and people drinking. My first impression when I spent time was in the US was indeed how bipolar drinking is compared to Europe. We probably drink a hell of a lot more in raw terms than the average American does.Two glasses of wine for dinner, another one in the…

> That said I don't think solitary drinking is necessarily as bad as the article makes it out to be all the time One of my great bugaboos is these cultural definitions of alcoholism that are independent from the actual amount of alcohol consumed. You know “you’re only an alcoholic if you drink alone” or “you’re only an alcoholic if you pour your own drinks” (apparently this is a meme in Japan?). Every culture that co…

> "you’re only an alcoholic if you pour your own drinks” (apparently this is a meme in Japan?)

(source: I've got family in Japan). It's polite in Japan to serve others and then let someone serve you. Otherwise it's "tejaku" (pooring oneself's drink). In, say, France/Belgium it's different: the one who serves from the bottle serves everybody and ends up serving himself.

Now, obviously, when you're drinking alone there's nobody to serve you...

Re: America has a drinking problem

#346

Post by lazyasciiart »

jmcdl wrote: post #295
maya24 wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alcohol is a harmful drug much worse than some of the other banned drugs on the market.

This is a common refrain but at the same time it seems to be the one substance commonly used across most of the world since ancient times. None of the other supposedly less harmful, banned drugs are so ubiquitous. Perhaps there's a good reason for this (besides varying availability of other substances)?

Delivery method is an important factor. Nothing that works through injection had a chance to become popular until quite recently, for instance.

Re: America has a drinking problem

#347

Post by cm2012 »

Barrin92 wrote: post #135

Article mirrors my experience. For context I'm German, my wife's French and we've got family in Croatia who own a vineyard so I'm used to being around alcohol and people drinking. My first impression when I spent time was in the US was indeed how bipolar drinking is compared to Europe. We probably drink a hell of a lot more in raw terms than the average American does.Two glasses of wine for dinner, another one in the…

For what its worth it I looked up the data to disprove you but it actually backs you up. The data says that Germans drink more than Americans but have lower rates of alcoholism and liver disease.

German data: https://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/global_alco...

US data: https://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/global_alco...

Re: America has a drinking problem

#348

Post by notsureaboutpg »

misiti3780 wrote: post #232
blhack wrote: post #116

Some of my most cherished memories are those where I was out drinking wine and having really good food with my wife and friends. When people were telling stories about Jesus, the central figure of their religion, one of the miracles they told of was him turning water into wine. This is held up as one of the most important stories in their entire moral system. When the pyramids were being built, the builders were paid…

I agree, these articles are ridiculous. If you have alcoholism in your family -- dont drink. If you're overweight because drinking causes you to eat shitty food and not exercise -- stop drinking. If you have anxiety because of drinking -- stop drinking. If drinking makes you an asshole and is causing relationship problems (I know a lot of people in this category) -- stop drinking. If you like to go out on the weeks a…

>If you like to go out on the weeks and drink 8 beers with your friends, all the more power to you. People have been drinking since time immemorial, it's part of who we are as human.

This just isn't true at all and it's probably offensive to large groups of people who view alcohol drinking (with pretty good reason) as a vice.

Abstaining from alcohol is also a praised act since time immemorial. Trying to keep one's mind and body free from intoxicants is also a noble goal and is something that is part of us as human, AND it is what distinguishes us from animals (animals in general don't abstain from things out of sheer willpower, but human beings in general do, be it dieting, teetotaling, etc.).

Life is also too short for you to accelerate your end voluntarily by drinking 8 drinks in one night in rapid succession.

This is the only part of modern social life where it's okay to tell people to do risky and dangerous behaviors which endanger the public. Excessive drunkenness is a public health problem. This past year should have made us keen to the fact that many actions we take for granted have consequences on others

Re: America has a drinking problem

#349

Post by samatman »

jmcdl wrote: post #295
maya24 wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alcohol is a harmful drug much worse than some of the other banned drugs on the market.

This is a common refrain but at the same time it seems to be the one substance commonly used across most of the world since ancient times. None of the other supposedly less harmful, banned drugs are so ubiquitous. Perhaps there's a good reason for this (besides varying availability of other substances)?

Nope, I'm quite convinced it's the varying availability of the other substances.

Coffee, tea, and tobacco, became at least as widespread once global trade made that possible. Coca was late to the party because it doesn't grow well outside of its native region.

Cannabis is an odd one, in that it was extremely widespread and making solid inroads in Europe and North America, when it became a weapon for United States racial policy, and a jobs program for federal police after the repeal of Prohibition. Coca and cocaine got caught up in the same dragnet.

Opium and its derivatives are genuinely pernicious and attempts to normalize their use outside of medicine have been resisted repeatedly throughout history.

Which leaves psychedelics, which are... weird, and also were largely unknown until some anthropologists in the 40s and 50s drew attention to them.

The history of 'modern' drug prohibition owes more to politics than the inherent properties of the substances in question.

Re: America has a drinking problem

#350

Post by np- »

Barrin92 wrote: post #135

Article mirrors my experience. For context I'm German, my wife's French and we've got family in Croatia who own a vineyard so I'm used to being around alcohol and people drinking. My first impression when I spent time was in the US was indeed how bipolar drinking is compared to Europe. We probably drink a hell of a lot more in raw terms than the average American does.Two glasses of wine for dinner, another one in the…

I'm surprised this is the top comment, what's the deal with Europeans tending to talk like they're the authoritative source on American culture based on a few people they've met and a few websites they've read? This seems like an absurd reductionist view of both European and American cultures. It honestly seems like the type of anecdotal content I would expect from a Reddit thread.
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