This is certainly a fascinating article. In this post for The Atlantic, Kate Julian recounts the development of drinking through time and makes some interesting statements. For one, she says that “The Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock because, the crew feared, the Pilgrims were going through the beer too quickly.” Have you heard that narrative about the founding of our country?
Here is another thought provoker- Americans may not have invented binge drinking, but we have a solid claim to bingeing alone, which was almost unheard-of in the Old World. Did you know that? I didn’t.
So, what’s going on in America nowadays? Along with all the new alcohol-free cocktails and bars, and the Sober Curious movement, it’s OK to drink in many settings, like the grocery stores, movie theater and hair salons.
Sensing the ambivalence?
Americans tend to drink in more dysfunctional ways than people in other societies, only to become judgmental about nearly any drinking at all. Again and again, an era of overindulgence begets an era of renunciation: Binge, abstain. Binge, abstain.
Right now we are lurching into another of our periodic crises over drinking, and both tendencies are on display at once.
Drinking Too Much Is an American Problem – The Atlantic
No wonder people are confused.