Why do Americans have hypochondria towards alcohol yet still have massive alcohol induced mortality rates?!
Maybe I'm just missing some other fundamental problem with alcohol that Americans suffer that strangely doesn't affect Europeans, who by the way have learnt how to drink responsibly without having to pass ridiculous legislation, or even the British as much. Enlighten me..
Answers: I'm serious: how many rehabilitation centres do you guys have? Probably more than the rest of the western world combined yet still 100,000 people die from alcohol each year in the States. Self perpetuating problem?
Maybe I'm just missing some other fundamental problem with alcohol that Americans suffer that strangely doesn't affect Europeans, who by the way have learnt how to drink responsibly without having to pass ridiculous legislation, or even the British as much. Enlighten me..
I think it has a lot to do with the history of the country. Europeans have never been subjected to the prohibitions that we have and consequently have seen alcohol use as a normal activity and not something "special".
The history of Europe was such that the only beverage that could be trusted was either wine or water with a dose of wine to kill off the bacteria.
The US on the other hand has had religious and governmental attacks from the beginning of the country, starting with the whiskey tax right after the revolution. We also had Prohibition, which criminalized drinking and manufacture. Since repeal, the attitude of drinking only for pleasure or for getting drunk has persisted.
MADD and other groups have condemned drunk driving and the abuse of alcohol, but they present no middle ground that presents the view of alcohol being OK with moderation. The only ones doing that are the manufacturers.
Until the anticipation of the 21st birthday binge is eliminated, immature and irresponsible alcohol use will continue.
As far as alcoholism is concerned, I think Russia and Ireland beat the US as far as percentages. I could be wrong.
What happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas.
I think that people in this country should educate their children about alcohol and its effects. I was brought up having wine at meals and a cocktail on occasion. I haven't ended up in rehab. In fact I rarely drink.
I think the forbidden fruit principle is at work here. And I believe Americans in general tend to leave uncomfortable topics such as sex-ed, drugs, and alcohol swept under the carpet or leave it to educators to do their bidding. Everyone knows how well the American system of education is doing and to expect them to educate children about things the family should be doing is unconscionable.
Yeah right, Europe, the paragon for responsible drinking and quality law enforcement... Somebody needs to pay closer attention to the news.
Honestly I don't know what this alcohol hypochondria nonsense you're talking about is, you can't look at simple number and assume you even begin to grasp American drinking habits. The vast majority of Americans either don't drink or do so responsibly. A good number of American college students take drinking to the extreme but it's college and that's hardly exclusive to the United States.
The 100,000 deaths a year are probably alcohol related, not alcohol specific. Drunk driving accidents make up over 20% of that I'm sure and it only takes 1 drunk d-bag to take out a car full of sober straight edge individuals. This is further compounded by the fact that most Americans drive from the time they're 16 whereas people in Europe are far more accustomed to public transportation and/or getting their driver's license when they're a good deal older.
EDIT:
I'm not saying it excuses deaths or makes for a responsible drunk but a yearly death toll related to alcohol is a scathing statistic that could encompass a grand number of issues aside from drinking. 1 in 3000 people dying from alcohol really isn't even that bad, it's shockingly low IMO. Alcohol doesn't even come close to the top 10 of "things killing people these days" list.
100,000 people seems like a lot but it really isn't when you consider that a lot of that is probably fluff from things like heart disease, and cancer which could probably be argued as alcohol related in a given case. Again this would hardly be exclusive to the United States.
EDIT:
Actually the landmass of a country greatly adds to this argument. How many of these deaths do you think would have otherwise been prevented if people didn't have to drive/fly to a hospital? There's areas of the United States where people are hours away from even a clinic let alone a full blown hospital. To add insult to injury many Americans lack the insurance required to get treatment. Like I said, this has very little to do with just drinking responsibly, you can't look at a number and assume you know precisely all that it represents.
Douchey,
Lighten up Gunga Din, Take some decaf!!
Now, obviously you are not nor ever will be a researcher. Americans and America has vastly more cars and more roads than Europe. Most of those alcohol-related fatalities happen while driving. It's not like Europe over here where you can walk to the corner pub.
I suggest you take a look at a map of the US and of Europe and you will discover that Pennsylvania alone is as big as Eastern and Western Germany (now just Germany). We're kind of spread out over here and need to drive everywhere.
americans just scared of good beer...big heads only drink that light crap
Mores to the point, why are such a bunch of repressed alcoholics allowed to legally carry guns???!!!