It seems that almost everyone does it, even when they're underage. Has it always been like this?
It seems that almost everyone does it, even when they're underage. Has it always been like this?
Alcohol is glorified in Homer's Iliad, so at leas as far back as the 8th Century BC.
Least, not leas. I've been glorifying a bit of alcohol myself.
1933, thanks to FDR
It's pretty much always been glorified because it was basically the only drug available to people. Imagine living in an absolute shithole without so much as running water and nothing to do but work every day. Oh yeah, and you're going to be dead by 45. Alcohol let people escape the day to day misery of their lives, at least for a night.
Alcohol allows me to enjoy my glories whole.
Uup wrote:
It seems that almost everyone does it, even when they're underage. Has it always been like this?
It has always been like this since humans discovered how to ferment fruit. All societies have participated in this. In most communities, drinking begins relatively early, around age 11 or 12.
There's nothing wrong with a little drinking. It's when you go too far that it becomes a problem.
Never had a sip of alchohol, never will.
I dont drink wrote:
Never had a sip of alchohol, never will.
Good for you for making a decision. But why do you feel the need to tell us all?
I have a couple drinks now and then but i can't stand when people come into work and are announcing to the world how much they drank that weekend,what they drank,all the crazy drama that happened, and how cool they think they think they are now like it is high school and I didn't think it was cool in high school either.
Although these types seem to have more friends and get a lot of girls i prefer my life by far with only a few good friends a dog and a great girlfriend, and kinda of living a somewhat boring life.
Running in the Rain wrote:
Although these types seem to have more friends and get a lot of girls i prefer my life by far with only a few good friends a dog and a great girlfriend, and kinda of living a somewhat boring, and incredibly judgmental life.
Running in the Rain wrote:
I have a couple drinks now and then but i can't stand when people come into work and are announcing to the world how much they drank that weekend,what they drank,all the crazy drama that happened, and how cool they think they think they are now like it is high school and I didn't think it was cool in high school either.
Although these types seem to have more friends and get a lot of girls i prefer my life by far with only a few good friends a dog and a great girlfriend, and kinda of living a somewhat boring life.
Keep giving your girlfriend second billing to your dog and soon you'll be dating your dog.
I think what you should be asking is - when did drinking alcohol become so passe?
Before prohibition the cer capita consumption of alcohol was 1.6-1.8 gallons of pure alcohol per year. If it was 4% beer that would be more than 15 beers per person per day! More than 2 liters of hard liquor for every man, woman, and child!
Did you ever wonder why we measure oil production in barrels? Well, in the early days of oil drilling they were looking for a cheap container to store the oil so they just grabbed what was available in abundance - empty whiskey barrels. Yes, there was a time when consumption of whiskey was so much higher than consumption of oil that they literally grabbed the empty whiskey barrels and filled them with oil. Soon it became part of the lexicon to ask how many barrels of oil a well was producing.
"Did you ever wonder why we measure oil production in barrels?"
No.
about 2500 BC
categorically wrote:
I think what you should be asking is - when did drinking alcohol become so passe?
Before prohibition the cer capita consumption of alcohol was 1.6-1.8 gallons of pure alcohol per year. If it was 4% beer that would be more than 15 beers per person per day! More than 2 liters of hard liquor for every man, woman, and child!
Did you ever wonder why we measure oil production in barrels? Well, in the early days of oil drilling they were looking for a cheap container to store the oil so they just grabbed what was available in abundance - empty whiskey barrels. Yes, there was a time when consumption of whiskey was so much higher than consumption of oil that they literally grabbed the empty whiskey barrels and filled them with oil. Soon it became part of the lexicon to ask how many barrels of oil a well was producing.
So... excessive drinking was acceptable when the greatest risk was only to yourself, but once the automobile became the transportation of choice the risk was transferred to everyone else and public drunkenness wasn't so cool anymore. That opened the door for a new type of rebellion through binge drinking. I don't know when that happened... maybe the 40s or 50s, maybe sooner.
At least that's how it seems in the US, where our culture and urban landscape has evolved around the automobile. In European countries people are introduced to alcohol at a much younger age, but they don't go on vomit-inducing benders like the youth of the USA. They also don't drive often (most don't own cars) or travel far from home to get wasted. They laugh at us for the fact that we have a drinking age. We're supposed to be the land of the free, but people take that for granted and now we have nanny-state shit like drinking ages because people can't control themselves and respect others. What's even more strange is that the so-called "glorification" of drinking is usually limited to the cheapest, lightest, grossest beer possible. It becomes quantity over quality. A couple dudes sitting around drinking a locally crated organic microbrew or a nice glass of wine isn't glorification, it's slamming crap beer and doing keg stands with your boys, hopefully until you pass out because that's hard-core and shows that you know how to party.
Did you really just say boring at the end of your post? You just explained everything you dont like and then proceeded to say you basically do the opposite. You are the last person I want to hang out/drink with.
Yes drinking was prelevant in high school but the word you are looking for is college.
I dont drink wrote:
Never had a sip of alchohol, never will.
One of the best moves you'll ever make - the $ you'll save, hangovers you'll miss, DUIs you won't get, health you'll have...nothing good comes out of drinking...
glorifically wrote:In European countries people are introduced to alcohol at a much younger age, but they don't go on vomit-inducing benders like the youth of the USA. They also don't drive often (most don't own cars) or travel far from home to get wasted. They laugh at us for the fact that we have a drinking age. We're supposed to be the land of the free, but people take that for granted and now we have nanny-state shit like drinking ages because people can't control themselves and respect others.
When did we start glorifying European countries? Have you ever been to a "football" match?
categorically wrote:
I think what you should be asking is - when did drinking alcohol become so passe?
Before prohibition the cer capita consumption of alcohol was 1.6-1.8 gallons of pure alcohol per year. If it was 4% beer that would be more than 15 beers per person per day! More than 2 liters of hard liquor for every man, woman, and child!
Did you ever wonder why we measure oil production in barrels? Well, in the early days of oil drilling they were looking for a cheap container to store the oil so they just grabbed what was available in abundance - empty whiskey barrels. Yes, there was a time when consumption of whiskey was so much higher than consumption of oil that they literally grabbed the empty whiskey barrels and filled them with oil. Soon it became part of the lexicon to ask how many barrels of oil a well was producing.
I'm pretty sure your math is pretty far off. 1.8 gallons of alcohol equates to about 480 12oz beers which are each 4% alcohol for the whole year. Not exactly 15 per day...