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America has a drinking problem

theatlantic.com

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Re: America has a drinking problem

#781

Post by ericbarrett »

golergka wrote: post #754
dougmwne wrote: post #743

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a lot of this is just because the USA is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to the USA:) Plus, this is a country made up of a little piece of every other country in the world. "American identity" is an ex post facto rationalization. Not to mention that politically we often oper…

Russia is bigger in terms of area, just two times smaller in terms of population, but 10 times more uniform, at least. You wouldn't be able to tell apart two typical provincial Russian towns from the opposite sides of the country. So, no, just the size itself doesn't seem like a complete explanation for this.

The vast majority of Russia is taiga and tundra, no? Like Canada, the land is vast but the population clusters heavily to one side. https://i.redd.it/v9rdedhje4i31.png

Whereas the U.S. has two heavily populated coasts and much of its land is arable, at temperate latitudes (at least with irrigation—setting aside water issues).

Re: America has a drinking problem

#782

Post by defaultname »

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…

Germany has one of the highest alcohol consumption rates. Significantly higher than Australia. Almost double Canada.

Re: America has a drinking problem

#783

Post by gmadsen »

Diederich wrote: post #203

Most of my male genetic relatives have/had a history of alcohol abuse, so I decided from an early age that the best approach was to not drink any alcohol at all, and I held to that until about nine years ago. Long research has indicated that one cup of red wine per day has measurable health benefits, so I started to drink one cup, like medicine, immediately before bed. After doing that for a few weeks, I came home fr…

It was chilling, because you ascertained that some latent genetic alcoholism made you pour a glass of wine subconsciously ?

I do this with tea and coffee all the time, so I guess I don't see the connection, but probably better to be safe

Re: America has a drinking problem

#784

Post by stadium »

cycomanic wrote: post #618
stadium wrote: post #550

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where are you from, and where have you lived, visited, and worked to come to this conclusion? It's not at all what I've experienced as a US born after living on both coasts, a few different states, and a range of small rural and large urban cities. Food sure, if you only consider culture as the corporate branded chains. That's missing out on a lot though. Language, accents, nomenclatures, sayings, mannerisms, all wid…

The OP specifically said compared to regions of similar size. You only talk about variations in the US, have you lived outside? The variations that you talk about, you can find in Germany alone which is the size of a medium size US state. The variations across Europe (I can't speak for India) are on a completely different level. If you put a random person into two different states in the US and two different countrie…

OP also conflated regions and countries. I read it as they were comparing US, EU, and India as a whole. Also curious where their perspective came from.

My point is that the presence or absence of cultural variation in one place does not equate to a lack thereof in another. Just because someone hasn't seen it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Culture isn't based on comparison, it's something in its own right

Re: America has a drinking problem

#786

Post by martincmartin »

Wxc2jjJmST9XWWL wrote: post #636

Whenever I explain the "USA" to (Eastern) Europeans, I always simply state the notion: "diverse country of the extremes". Yes, widespread obesity, but health obsessions also run deep in that country, gym memberships, elite universities with sports programs full of money. How many weird diet fads start basically in the US? Self-help books, alternative gurus, etc. Bad education? Yes, pretty much. But also some of the b…

"'grand theories based on wild speculation, and creating a narrative out of that', which then has this 'intellectual' appearance about it, but says very little."

Sounds like a lot of HN, TBH.

Re: America has a drinking problem

#787

Post by andrepd »

eli_gottlieb wrote: post #769
capableweb wrote: post #656

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Neither of the things you've listed sounds like diversity, it sounds like inequality. Why is half the country without proper education while the other ones are in the best research institutions in the world? And what does the people are those institutions spend their time on, if it's not helping the other half reaching the same position as themselves? The social experiment seems to be about how extreme you can really…

>The social experiment seems to be about how extreme you can really make inequality before people starts to riot. Well, the answer to that is obvious: people have long since started to riot, just about almost anything except economic inequality and exploitation.

Divide and conquer.

Re: America has a drinking problem

#788

Post by Wxc2jjJmST9XWWL »

martincmartin wrote: post #786
Wxc2jjJmST9XWWL wrote: post #636

Whenever I explain the "USA" to (Eastern) Europeans, I always simply state the notion: "diverse country of the extremes". Yes, widespread obesity, but health obsessions also run deep in that country, gym memberships, elite universities with sports programs full of money. How many weird diet fads start basically in the US? Self-help books, alternative gurus, etc. Bad education? Yes, pretty much. But also some of the b…

"'grand theories based on wild speculation, and creating a narrative out of that', which then has this 'intellectual' appearance about it, but says very little." Sounds like a lot of HN, TBH.

I would say it sounds a lot like social studies. But with those there is at least some scientific rigor (I hope).

Journalists often just spin speculation based on carefully selected theories into a narrative, put it into long form, sprinkle it with some writing skills, and sell it as profound. And 'The Atlantic' is especially guilty of that (according to my experience). And they're guilty of it with this one once more (imo).

The Atlantic: Pseudo-profound nonsense targeted at elites.

Re: America has a drinking problem

#789

Post by JeremyNT »

gilbetron wrote: post #756
capableweb wrote: post #656

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Neither of the things you've listed sounds like diversity, it sounds like inequality. Why is half the country without proper education while the other ones are in the best research institutions in the world? And what does the people are those institutions spend their time on, if it's not helping the other half reaching the same position as themselves? The social experiment seems to be about how extreme you can really…

> Why is half the country without proper education Some of it is inequality, but some of it is willful diversity. There is a strong undercurrent that education is bad - a counterculture of ignorance. It is something that bewilders me, and that has only become clear to me in the past 5 years or so. It isn't that some people lack access to education that they want, but rather do not want access to that education becaus…

> Some of it is inequality, but some of it is willful diversity. There is a strong undercurrent that education is bad - a counterculture of ignorance.

This is, of course, self-fulfilling. In a society where education is poor, people will extrapolate from their own experience to conclude that all education is equally poor.

Source: grew up in the rural South, attending public school, surrounded by people who (correctly) viewed their education as nearly useless.

Re: America has a drinking problem

#790

Post by sigstoat »

madcows wrote: post #779
hallway_monitor wrote: post #732

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe this is true but I hope not. I'm specifically thinking of trade schools etc where people can prepare for a career without the frills and cost of university. Honestly maybe a marketing campaign would be effective in letting people know that blue color work is honorable and needed and they can be productive and get a job that will support them and their family without having to go to Yale. I really like what Mike…

> blue color work is honorable and needed and they can be productive and get a job that will support them and their family Honorable? Maybe. Able to support a family? Not without a secondary income from a spouse. And who's looking after the kids at that point? I hope you also have extended family that are willing and able to help, otherwise that's not much of a family.

> > blue color work is honorable and needed and they can be productive and get a job that will support them and their family

> Able to support a family? Not without a secondary income from a spouse.

now i suspect that you simply don't know anyone who does blue collar work.

can all blue collar work support a family easily? no, but neither can all white collar work.

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