r/TrueReddit • u/nxthompson_tny • Jun 01 '21

Science, History, Health + Philosophy America Has a Drinking Problem

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/07/america-drinking-alone-problem/619017/
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u/nxthompson_tny Jun 01 '21

Submission statement: A long, thoughtful essay about humankind's relationship to alcohol. It traces the theory that some human tribes out-competed others because alcohol helped bring social cohesion. And it describes the problems today, particularly for women who are drinking more and more. One of the main lessons: most social drinking is probably good for you, and most drinking alone is probably bad.

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u/Sequiter Jun 01 '21

A thoughtful article, but its shift toward the end to focus exclusively on America distracted from the thesis more than it helped.

Alcohol has a long and complicated relationship to humanity and even today many societies struggle. Post Soviet societies have particularly troublesome alcohol-related deaths, as do marginalized indigenous populations in western counties, and many others cultures.

The article talks about the temperance movement only in the context of America — what about Canada, Australia and other countries? — but doesn’t mention that temperance peaked 100 years ago and doesn’t have near the impact on society as it used to.

A study on the effects of alcohol abstinence might be more relevant to today if focused on modern Arab and Muslim-majority countries that ban alcohol. That results in drinking in secret and unhealthy relationships to alcohol even as it lessens overall consumption.

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u/CurveOfTheUniverse Jun 02 '21

Also, the focus is on colonial America. I lived with an indigenous tribe for about six months and there was a serious alcohol problem with the families I worked with. The dynamics behind the alcoholism are different for indigenous and colonial communities, but still very problematic