Posted on 01/14/2020 6:57:27 PM PST by nickcarraway
Occasionally, Elizabeth Bruenig unleashes a tweet for which she knows she’s sure to get dragged: She admits that she doesn’t drink.
Bruenig, a columnist at The New York Times with a sizable social-media following, told me that it usually begins with her tweeting something mildly inflammatory and totally unrelated to alcohol—e.g., The Star Wars prequels are actually good. Someone will accuse her of being drunk. She, in turn, will clarify that she doesn’t drink, and that she’s never been drunk. Inevitably, people will criticize her. You’re really missing out, they might say. Why would you deny yourself?
As Bruenig sees it, however, there’s more to be gained than lost in abstaining. In fact, she supports stronger restrictions on alcohol sales. Alcohol’s effects on crime and violence, in her view, are cause to reconsider some cities’ and states’ permissive attitudes toward things such as open-container laws and where alcohol can be sold.
Breunig’s outlook harks back to a time when there was a robust public discussion about the role of alcohol in society. Today, warnings about the devil drink will win you few friends. Sure, it’s fine if you want to join Alcoholics Anonymous or cut back on drinking to help yourself, and people are happy to tell you not to drink and drive. But Americans tend to reject general anti-alcohol advocacy with a vociferousness typically reserved for IRS auditors and after-period double-spacers. Pushing for, say, higher alcohol taxes gets you treated like an uptight school marm. Or worse, a neo-prohibitionist.
Unlike in previous generations, hardly any formal organizations are pushing to reduce the amount that Americans drink. Some groups oppose marijuana (by many measures a much safer drug than alcohol), guns, porn, junk food, and virtually every other vice. Still, the main U.S. organizations
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
I gave up alcohol about 15 years ago.
I don’t miss it, but to each his own.
I have noticed I no longer enjoy being around drunk people.
Was a teetotaler for 35 years.
Was.
Scripture frequently uses “wine” as a positive analogy for reasons.
What made you change?
I drank my share when I was young. Gave it up when I married a teetotaling wife - she was far more valuable to me than the booze. Now I take some meds that do not mix well with alcohol so I wouldn’t start again even if I wanted to.
I found out that I enjoy not puking on my feet when I get up in the morning.
I drink all the time and even I hate being around drunk people.
Whoa! That’s a lot of ugly!
Saw no reason to not enjoy it.
Scripture & experience makes clear drinking IN MODERATION is enjoyable & beneficial.
I have noticed a few foods that have “touched my soul” in satisfaction. A few wines/beers/spirits included.
Some people can’t separate “drinking” from “drunk”.
They can’t comprehend enjoying a single serving of fine libations responsibly, be they participants or observers.
“As long as I get five hours of sleep...*snap*......I’m cool!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJdzoY-Wsc8
They got MADD and Left?
I drink pretty regularly and cannot remember the last time I noticed a visibly drunk person.
I was a member of DAMM, (Drunks against mad mothers), but then I quit drinking alcohol.
I have noticed I no longer enjoy being around drunk people
——————-
There’s two types of people I can’t stand. Drunk people when I’m sober. And sober people when I’m drunk.
This really is an interesting article. The author makes the point several times that marijuana is far more dangerous than alcohol. So why is pot not socially acceptable? Yet alcohol is. The answer to that is the marketing and the advertising.
A multibillion dollar industry.
You are saying why is pot more socially acceptable even though it is far more dangerous than alcohol? Because companies are going to make billions from pot, and politicians want a drug addled electorate.
didn’t you read the papers It made organized crime rich, corrupted police departments so they woke up and changed the law. Now we are doing the same with drugs.
Oops. I misquoted . I meant to say the author say pot is far less dangerous than alcohol.
Which, in my opinion may or may not be true. It is extremely clear the effects of marijuana usage amongst teenagers is highly dangerous.
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