This feels like a very "American" article [1], in the way it frames the discussion. The intro suggests the author has a policy of not drinking at all (or only every few months), but most of the bullet points only apply to why you shouldn't binge-drink. I did not find anything in this article that applied to normal drinking. If you drink a glass of wine with lunch, and one or two with dinner, as a typical southern European, you should not have a hangover or other such issues, unless you have a relatively rare (for those of European descent, at least) sensitivity to alcohol.
I'm slightly tempted to write a follow-up article with, "why I don't participate in bro culture", based on this article's pervasive reference to clubs, "certain intoxicants", and other such questionable things the author appears to indulge in, but which seem stupid and harmful to me.
[1] To be fair, the U.S. may have gotten its drunkards-vs-teetotallers attitude in part from Europe. Sweden in particular, and the UK some centuries earlier, used to have a very similar divide.
I was about to post the same thing. A glass of wine with dinner, for example, can enormously enhance the experience without any of the downsides that he mentions. Not that I care if people don't drink, but several of the arguments were pretty spurious.
The author's not telling you not to drink, he's just explaining why he doesn't. It's OK for some of those reasons to be against specific kinds of drinking he doesn't want to engage in.
Everything in life is a skill - even drinking alcohol. While most of people think that drinking alcohol is only pleasure it can be amazing deal breaker and social skill needed in some situation.
I drink usually 3-4 times a week (not to get drunk, but few glasses of coke and whiskey or vodka).
Does it make me dumber? Yes, but it also helps me to focus on just one task. My productivity jumps 3-4 times for that time.
Does it leave me hangover? No. There is a way to drink alcohol and never have hangover (in last year I had hangover just once).
Do I get drunk? No. There is a way to drink alcohol and stay in sweet spot. Mixing alcohol like a teenager dosent help.
Do I lose my social skills? No. Look up - if you know what you are doing you are the only one at the party that is semi-sober while drinking - so all the stories belong to you.
I remember back in the days when drinking didn't equal to alcoholism (hello Mr. Churchill), smoking cigarettes did not equal to cancer (hello anyone 50 years ago), and well behaving while intoxicated was an important indicator of persons self-control.
I rather to do a business with person that can stay cool after alcohol than with one that dont drink/behave like idiot after few drinks. Remember beginnings of some alcohol fuelled startups (FB, Google etc...). Thats the real character revealer in our "FB profile page" world.
I (an American) drink fairly often, and occasionally to excess. I have a fairly high tolerance, so usually I won't notice much of an effect until I'm drinking at a rate of greater than 2 drinks per hour, or, if I'm drinking slower than that, until I've had at 7+ drinks.
So it's not unusual for me to go out with some friends, have 5-7 drinks, and not "get drunk", only developing a slight buzz at most. As long as I'm matching each alcoholic drink with 1-1.5 glasses of water, I feel perfectly normal the next day. (I have noticed that, as I get older, I need to hydrate more and more to avoid a headache afterward. Annoying.)
On other occasions, I do enjoy drinking to a point where I'd consider myself very drunk. It's fun. Frankly, I'm mildly annoyed at the suggestion that the European method of drinking is somehow superior. It's just different. Possibly healthier, possibly safer, but I'll be damned if I let other people tell me how to enjoy myself[1].
I'm slightly tempted to write a follow-up article with, "why I don't participate in bro culture", based on this article's pervasive reference to clubs, "certain intoxicants", and other such questionable things the author appears to indulge in, but which seem stupid and harmful to me.
So wait, indulging in intoxicants other than alcohol makes you a "bro"? Damn, dude, check your holier-than-thou perceptions at the door and let people do their thing. I don't personally do any of the harder stuff, but I'm not going to condemn others if that makes them happy. I think you also have a very narrow-minded view as to what a "club" is and what types of people tend to frequent them (hint: the answer is "all different kinds").
[1] As long as my enjoyment isn't harming anyone else, anyway.
Really the only thing you could nitpick is in points 7 and 9, because that's where he makes generalizations about alcohol's effects on others. Near as I can tell, the rest of the list is primarily about how it affects him as an individual. As far as alcohol being a depressant, that's pretty well established by now. I'm just not sure what exactly screams "American" about this article to you. It seems you're generalizing a lot of things about Americans just as you claim he's generalizing a lot of things about alcohol. Just not really sure what point you're getting at.
He also mentions health as a concern but light to moderate drinkers (1-3 drinks per day) are generally healthier than teetotalers, who are then generally healthier than heavy drinkers (>3 drinks per day).
A drink of alcohol per day is shown to reduce the risk of heart disease significantly.
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/0216/026.html
Fortunately, there's more of a casual drinking culture brewing (no pun intended) in the U.S. based around craft beer and other alcoholic beverages. I probably have a beer a day on average, but I make a point to never get drunk.
> Almost everyone will at some point ask me why I don't drink, which is fair considering it's engrained into human society.
There should be no need to explain why you don't drink. Period. There's nothing wrong with not drinking and there's nothing weird about not drinking. If people are asking with any sort of condescension, you are probably spending time with the wrong people.
Explain != justify. Not drinking is, for better or worse, fairly unusual (at least in some circles). It's natural to be curious when someone says they don't drink. As long as the questioner is asking out of curiosity and not pre-judgment, I don't see anything wrong with it.
I empathize with this article. I rarely drink, I get drunk about a half a dozen times a year, and shifting my social life away from bars and restaurants has enabled me to afford a lifestyle I otherwise couldn't have.
I put every penny I saved from my former bar oriented social life into a savings account, and in two years I put over $65k away, which turned into seed money for my own startup.
This is a point of pride for me, and overall has enriched my life in ways social drinking never could have.
I've grown distant from certain friends because of it, and I get questions nearly everytime I do go out and refuse a drink. These things are not important to me, and those people less so.
Moral of the story is, people should live their lives how they see fit, and that is for both drinkers and non drinkers alike.
Not to mention that alcohol is a major carcinogen in the United States. From the National Cancer Institute: "Based on data from 2009, an estimated 3.5 percent of all cancer deaths in the United States were alcohol related." [0]
Note that those cancer prevalences are associated with drinking >3.5 drinks (50g alcohol) per day, which is borderline alcoholic (assuming it really means most days, not just some days)
This hits the nail on the head for me. I'm a college student in the US right now, and drinking is a big part of the "college experience". I don't like drinking — that's not to say I don't every once in a while (think once every two months), I just don't really enjoy it like other people do. It makes me uncomfortable that I'd be around other people I potentially don't know without all my faculties.
I think it's just a control thing for me — I don't want to lose control of myself and do stupid things. Even normally, I'm super self-aware, and that'd just get worse with alcohol.
I'm really with the author here. I don't drink much, and people usually ask me why when I'm out. I just don't find it all that enjoyable most of the time, to be honest.
also, there's this:
>There is a longer list of things I'd rather spend $100 on
I might use this comment to respond to every single person who uses the cost of alcohol as a reason not to drink saying "there are so many other things I'd rather buy.."
LIKE WHAT? A PEN? That's a pen. You can never convince me that I should believe that pen is objectively more valuable than a night out treating friends. Forget it. If it's more valuable to YOU because you love pens and dislike drinking, fine, but this argument that "stuff" is somehow inherently worth more than "experiences" (like food, alcohol, events, etc.) falls so unbelievably flat to me.
I don't drink very often anymore (maybe a few times a year). I've never liked the taste of most alcohol, so when I drink, it's generally just a lot of shots to get it down easiest. When I went out more, I drank more (the incredible effort I have to maintain to be around people is lessened if I'm drinking). As I got older, it seemed easier to just stop leaving my apartment, and I was never a fan of drinking at home.
I suppose somewhere in the back of my head I always worried about becoming an alcoholic (coming from a long line of stinking drunks), but thankfully, I don't really have any addiction issues.
I'll admit that it's probably a bad thing that so much of our culture is alcohol-centric, but I don't begrudge that other people just like drinking.
I enjoy certain intoxicants.
I enjoy hanging around people that are intoxicated
Look, it's wonderful to abstain from some things in life. If/when I have a child I will tell them this "pick and abstain from one addiction or enjoyment that see most people exploring. when you are older you will start to doubt your abilities and look for choices you made to blame it on. if you abstain from that one thing you can always just say 'meh, at least i dont do ___'".
That said, one can give plenty of arguments for why alcohol adds something to your life. Mainly all of the reasons you gave against it were completely self-centred and if you acknowledge that the quality of your life is most greatly impacted by your interaction with others... well, alcohol can bring value to that.
As a side note, if you are going to parties and filling up on "other intoxicants" that make you thirst more for water than alcohol, you're not really doing yourself any favors.
I'm wallowing in self pity after a great night last night. New Zealand is like Oz and the UK in that it has a huge, ugly, binge drinking culture. I was caught up in it for a while but eventually I had to perform a bit of self-reflection, realise that I was a bit of a dick when I lost control and really focus on what I wanted. Turns out I enjoy drinking with friends, but I hate being wasted and out of control. I also really enjoy the taste and variety of the conduits which we use to numb ourselves.
Why am I posting this? Because it sounds like OP and myself (and likely many, many others) have gone through a similar experience of calibrating ourselves to alcohol, but found ourselves coping with the downsides in different, equally-valid ways.
I agree with most of his points, and that's why I don't drink to excess. But I'm happy to have a glass of red wine with a steak or a nice stinky piece of cheese, and I don't suffer any of the drawbacks he states. I don't feel an urge to continue drinking either, because yeah, being drunk and hungover later sucks!
Drinking (or doing anything) responsibly doesn't just mean "find a DD and then get trashed", it can also mean "find satiation with a little bit of something nice."
I've never had a drink for personal and religious reasons. From an outside perspective, those are all the same kinds of reasons I'd have.
Primarily, it's shocking to me how much people spend on alcohol. I was out with some co-workers that were spending $10 per shot. That was a bit of shock for me.
Everyone's got their vice. Some people have many. Alcohol just isn't yours. I personally love beer. I really enjoy it... but i have nothing against anyone for making the decision not to drink it.
Some companies, failing to differentiate themselves from fraternities, hold "drink-ups" instead of meet-ups. Sometimes not drinking ostracises you from a culture. (I have this problem in an even-more-conspicuous way: I don't like hot drinks, or the taste of coffee. This makes "let's get coffee and chat" a bit awkward.)
I wrote the article, and I honestly wrote it primarily for myself and didn't expect others to find it interesting. It's a question I get on a more than weekly basis, I figured it was time to sit down, think about it deeply, and write it down.
First I respect his decision. For some it can addictive and if you feel like you can't control yourself it's best to avoid. However, he uses "getting drunk" and "drinking" interchangeably, there's a lot between those two points.
A drink a day, sometimes two, are not harmful.
They will not really intoxicate you.
Everyone else is drinking so any dumbing down is valid for anyone else.
A drink are two is not unhealthy, maybe it's even healthy.
[+] [-] mjn|12 years ago|reply
I'm slightly tempted to write a follow-up article with, "why I don't participate in bro culture", based on this article's pervasive reference to clubs, "certain intoxicants", and other such questionable things the author appears to indulge in, but which seem stupid and harmful to me.
[1] To be fair, the U.S. may have gotten its drunkards-vs-teetotallers attitude in part from Europe. Sweden in particular, and the UK some centuries earlier, used to have a very similar divide.
[+] [-] RogerL|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kylec|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] funkyy|12 years ago|reply
I drink usually 3-4 times a week (not to get drunk, but few glasses of coke and whiskey or vodka). Does it make me dumber? Yes, but it also helps me to focus on just one task. My productivity jumps 3-4 times for that time.
Does it leave me hangover? No. There is a way to drink alcohol and never have hangover (in last year I had hangover just once).
Do I get drunk? No. There is a way to drink alcohol and stay in sweet spot. Mixing alcohol like a teenager dosent help.
Do I lose my social skills? No. Look up - if you know what you are doing you are the only one at the party that is semi-sober while drinking - so all the stories belong to you.
I remember back in the days when drinking didn't equal to alcoholism (hello Mr. Churchill), smoking cigarettes did not equal to cancer (hello anyone 50 years ago), and well behaving while intoxicated was an important indicator of persons self-control.
I rather to do a business with person that can stay cool after alcohol than with one that dont drink/behave like idiot after few drinks. Remember beginnings of some alcohol fuelled startups (FB, Google etc...). Thats the real character revealer in our "FB profile page" world.
[+] [-] kelnos|12 years ago|reply
So it's not unusual for me to go out with some friends, have 5-7 drinks, and not "get drunk", only developing a slight buzz at most. As long as I'm matching each alcoholic drink with 1-1.5 glasses of water, I feel perfectly normal the next day. (I have noticed that, as I get older, I need to hydrate more and more to avoid a headache afterward. Annoying.)
On other occasions, I do enjoy drinking to a point where I'd consider myself very drunk. It's fun. Frankly, I'm mildly annoyed at the suggestion that the European method of drinking is somehow superior. It's just different. Possibly healthier, possibly safer, but I'll be damned if I let other people tell me how to enjoy myself[1].
I'm slightly tempted to write a follow-up article with, "why I don't participate in bro culture", based on this article's pervasive reference to clubs, "certain intoxicants", and other such questionable things the author appears to indulge in, but which seem stupid and harmful to me.
So wait, indulging in intoxicants other than alcohol makes you a "bro"? Damn, dude, check your holier-than-thou perceptions at the door and let people do their thing. I don't personally do any of the harder stuff, but I'm not going to condemn others if that makes them happy. I think you also have a very narrow-minded view as to what a "club" is and what types of people tend to frequent them (hint: the answer is "all different kinds").
[1] As long as my enjoyment isn't harming anyone else, anyway.
[+] [-] joshlegs|12 years ago|reply
Really the only thing you could nitpick is in points 7 and 9, because that's where he makes generalizations about alcohol's effects on others. Near as I can tell, the rest of the list is primarily about how it affects him as an individual. As far as alcohol being a depressant, that's pretty well established by now. I'm just not sure what exactly screams "American" about this article to you. It seems you're generalizing a lot of things about Americans just as you claim he's generalizing a lot of things about alcohol. Just not really sure what point you're getting at.
[+] [-] kwyjibo1230|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bicx|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sheetjs|12 years ago|reply
There should be no need to explain why you don't drink. Period. There's nothing wrong with not drinking and there's nothing weird about not drinking. If people are asking with any sort of condescension, you are probably spending time with the wrong people.
[+] [-] NegativeK|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kelnos|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Thriptic|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] massappeal|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Duhck|12 years ago|reply
I put every penny I saved from my former bar oriented social life into a savings account, and in two years I put over $65k away, which turned into seed money for my own startup.
This is a point of pride for me, and overall has enriched my life in ways social drinking never could have.
I've grown distant from certain friends because of it, and I get questions nearly everytime I do go out and refuse a drink. These things are not important to me, and those people less so.
Moral of the story is, people should live their lives how they see fit, and that is for both drinkers and non drinkers alike.
[+] [-] judk|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hawkharris|12 years ago|reply
[0] http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/alcohol
[+] [-] judk|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ethnt|12 years ago|reply
I think it's just a control thing for me — I don't want to lose control of myself and do stupid things. Even normally, I'm super self-aware, and that'd just get worse with alcohol.
[+] [-] joshlegs|12 years ago|reply
also, there's this: >There is a longer list of things I'd rather spend $100 on
I just want to take a moment to suggest this as an alternative. http://www.amazon.com/Parker-Sonnet-Original-Matte-Fountain/...
[+] [-] tomasien|12 years ago|reply
LIKE WHAT? A PEN? That's a pen. You can never convince me that I should believe that pen is objectively more valuable than a night out treating friends. Forget it. If it's more valuable to YOU because you love pens and dislike drinking, fine, but this argument that "stuff" is somehow inherently worth more than "experiences" (like food, alcohol, events, etc.) falls so unbelievably flat to me.
[+] [-] m0nastic|12 years ago|reply
I suppose somewhere in the back of my head I always worried about becoming an alcoholic (coming from a long line of stinking drunks), but thankfully, I don't really have any addiction issues.
I'll admit that it's probably a bad thing that so much of our culture is alcohol-centric, but I don't begrudge that other people just like drinking.
[+] [-] cyphunk|12 years ago|reply
That said, one can give plenty of arguments for why alcohol adds something to your life. Mainly all of the reasons you gave against it were completely self-centred and if you acknowledge that the quality of your life is most greatly impacted by your interaction with others... well, alcohol can bring value to that.
As a side note, if you are going to parties and filling up on "other intoxicants" that make you thirst more for water than alcohol, you're not really doing yourself any favors.
[+] [-] te_chris|12 years ago|reply
Why am I posting this? Because it sounds like OP and myself (and likely many, many others) have gone through a similar experience of calibrating ourselves to alcohol, but found ourselves coping with the downsides in different, equally-valid ways.
[+] [-] humancontact|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] trentmb|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] eterps|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] faddotio|12 years ago|reply
Drinking (or doing anything) responsibly doesn't just mean "find a DD and then get trashed", it can also mean "find satiation with a little bit of something nice."
[+] [-] Osiris|12 years ago|reply
Primarily, it's shocking to me how much people spend on alcohol. I was out with some co-workers that were spending $10 per shot. That was a bit of shock for me.
[+] [-] swalsh|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] CtrlAltDel|12 years ago|reply
Sounds like he gets high, but doesn't drink.
[+] [-] brianobush|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] derefr|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nealogrady|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ethnt|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] eterps|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bra-ket|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] whoismua|12 years ago|reply
A drink a day, sometimes two, are not harmful. They will not really intoxicate you. Everyone else is drinking so any dumbing down is valid for anyone else. A drink are two is not unhealthy, maybe it's even healthy.
[+] [-] shaunxcode|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] SixteenBlue|12 years ago|reply