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America has a drinking problem

theatlantic.com

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Re: America has a drinking problem

#441

Post by plandis »

Sophistifunk wrote: post #423

People have the cause and effect backwards in my opinion. You know why "binge drinking" isn't a problem in Germany, except for when the Australians turn up for Oktoberfest? It's because you can just buy a beer on the side of the road with your currywurst, and drink it without being hassled. If you act up, you get arrested for acting up. Try openly having a few beers in the park in Australia or the US, you'll be run o…

I regularly go out and have picnics with my wife and have never once been harassed about sharing a bottle of wine with our meal. My family goes camping over Memorial Day weekend to state parks all over Ohio and it’s pretty common to have alcoholic drinks but, as long as you’re not bothering anyone, nobody cares. We’ve been doing this for as long as I’ve been alive and not once has anyone cared in 30+ years.

The US has open container laws but they primarily exist for a pretense to arrest people for being disorderly, in my experience.

Edit: The person I’m responding to isn’t even in the US how is what they are saying more valid then my actual life experiences in the US?

Re: America has a drinking problem

#442

Post by [deleted] »

TameAntelope wrote: post #440
throwaway21531 wrote: post #410

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>America also has a cultural obsession with self-reliance/liberty/frontier-as-a-virtue which makes "socializing" a bit of a taboo concept, in a weird way. The "self-reliance/liberty/frontier-as-a-virtue" culture, which is strongly tied to Southern culture, is the culture that is more open about socializing with anyone. It's Northern and West coast US culture where people don't even want to look at each other in the e…

There's a deeper "independence" in American culture that has nothing to do with north vs. south that foreigners can smell a mile and a half away, even (especially?) on "northerners".

[deleted]

Re: America has a drinking problem

#443

Post by gerdesj »

"The Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock because, the crew feared, the Pilgrims were going through the beer too quickly. The ship had been headed for the mouth of the Hudson River, until its sailors (who, like most Europeans of that time, preferred beer to water) panicked at the possibility of running out before they got home, and threatened mutiny. And so the Pilgrims were kicked ashore, short of their intended destination and beerless."

Perhaps not. I'm a Brit who has designed souvenirs in Plymouth (the one in Devon.) That does not make me an historian but I am a bit interested.

"who, like most Europeans of that time, preferred beer to water" - no they preferred NOT (Colera OR diarrhea).

"And so the Pilgrims were kicked ashore" Please do tell.

Re: America has a drinking problem

#444

Post by [deleted] »

TameAntelope wrote: post #440
throwaway21531 wrote: post #410

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>America also has a cultural obsession with self-reliance/liberty/frontier-as-a-virtue which makes "socializing" a bit of a taboo concept, in a weird way. The "self-reliance/liberty/frontier-as-a-virtue" culture, which is strongly tied to Southern culture, is the culture that is more open about socializing with anyone. It's Northern and West coast US culture where people don't even want to look at each other in the e…

There's a deeper "independence" in American culture that has nothing to do with north vs. south that foreigners can smell a mile and a half away, even (especially?) on "northerners".

[deleted]

Re: America has a drinking problem

#445

Post by throwaway93626 »

I think a lot of people don’t realize how much alcohol they actually consume because their bodies are accustomed to it.

As a non-drinker apart from rare occasions (1-2x per year), here’s my anecdotal experience.

Over the course of an evening:

- 5-6oz of a 7% IPA and I’m feeling good. This is around my personal cutoff if I do happen to have a drink.

- 1 16oz IPA and I’d be feeling borderline drunk.

- 2 16oz IPAs would leave me right and properly drunk with a good chance of a hangover.

- 3 or more and I am feeling way too drunk, my stomach contents are no longer guaranteed to stay in place, and I’m guaranteed to wake up with a robust hangover.

I drank quite a bit up until about 6 years ago, and back then I could consume multiple times these amounts and feel fine.

I am a healthy, fit person in my mid-late 20s, and to my knowledge don’t have any genetic predisposition to alcohol intolerance.

Re: America has a drinking problem

#446

Post by [deleted] »

TameAntelope wrote: post #440
throwaway21531 wrote: post #410

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>America also has a cultural obsession with self-reliance/liberty/frontier-as-a-virtue which makes "socializing" a bit of a taboo concept, in a weird way. The "self-reliance/liberty/frontier-as-a-virtue" culture, which is strongly tied to Southern culture, is the culture that is more open about socializing with anyone. It's Northern and West coast US culture where people don't even want to look at each other in the e…

There's a deeper "independence" in American culture that has nothing to do with north vs. south that foreigners can smell a mile and a half away, even (especially?) on "northerners".

[deleted]

Re: America has a drinking problem

#447

Post by Ensorceled »

etaioinshrdlu wrote: post #63

I also suspect that regular cannabis use is more harmful than some of us would care to admit.

Most of us would actually happily admit that regular cannabis use is harmful ... so are a bunch of other things, like potato chips.

Cannabis use is not even in the same order of magnitude as the harm alcohol does. Alcohol kills 10K people a year in the US just from drunk driving. I'm not sure why you are bringing this up?

Re: America has a drinking problem

#448

Post by cylde_frog »

throwaway93626 wrote: post #445

I think a lot of people don’t realize how much alcohol they actually consume because their bodies are accustomed to it. As a non-drinker apart from rare occasions (1-2x per year), here’s my anecdotal experience. Over the course of an evening: - 5-6oz of a 7% IPA and I’m feeling good. This is around my personal cutoff if I do happen to have a drink. - 1 16oz IPA and I’d be feeling borderline drunk. - 2 16oz IPAs would…

Would you recommend it? I'm considering giving up drinking entirely and just smoking/vaping weed. A small amount of weed gives me the same sort of social buzz that the sweet spot of alchol (3-6 drinks) gives me, with no hangover and excess calories.

Re: America has a drinking problem

#450

Post by throwaway2161 »

TameAntelope wrote: post #440
throwaway21531 wrote: post #410

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>America also has a cultural obsession with self-reliance/liberty/frontier-as-a-virtue which makes "socializing" a bit of a taboo concept, in a weird way. The "self-reliance/liberty/frontier-as-a-virtue" culture, which is strongly tied to Southern culture, is the culture that is more open about socializing with anyone. It's Northern and West coast US culture where people don't even want to look at each other in the e…

There's a deeper "independence" in American culture that has nothing to do with north vs. south that foreigners can smell a mile and a half away, even (especially?) on "northerners".

>There's a deeper "independence" in American culture that has nothing to do with north vs. south that foreigners can smell a mile and a half away, even (especially?) on "northerners".

Maybe if they come from collectivist cultures, definitely not if they're from strong "independence" cultures but it's immaterial to your original premise.

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