People in other countries definitely do this. Maybe not with the TikToks and all of that but all over Europe (where I’m from and have lived in various countries) people are drinking

Have you ever left your basement, OP? UK pub culture, Oktoberfest, and wine festivals are central to many European cultures. Koreans and Australians can drink most Americans under the table.

Yes, many Americans overindulge and struggle with addiction, but you're making a lot of false assumptions.

Anonymous wrote:People in other countries don't have drinking culture? Have you hung out with Brits or Russians?

I think OP's point is that while of course people in other countries drink (sometimes a lot more than we drink in the US), people aren't endlessly talking about drinking the way we do here. Drinking is a background activity and not the top of social media posts. People don't make "drinking" their personality.

I don't drink (never have) but I feel like people are drinking less than they used to. Maybe that's because I'm older and I know lots of people who can't drink like could in their 20s, but I feel like there are more non-alcoholic options on menus and less pressure to drink than there used to be.

Anonymous wrote:People in other countries don't have drinking culture? Have you hung out with Brits or Russians?

As a half white person, I'm just going to say it. Drinking culture is overwhelmingly a white thing.

At some point, alcohol became a hobby in the US. I mean some people have always pushed it this way, but it didn't become very widespread until more recently. Like there's always been that guy who is just very, very into Scotch or the person who is obsessed with wine, but I feel like only within the past 20 years or so did this become less niche and more of a widespread thing.

I personally noticed it during the rise of microbrew beer. Before that, people generally only drank a few kinds of beer and none of it was very good. So being really "into" beer was not really an option for people. But with microbreweries, people started getting really into the whole story of how beer is brewed, the different varieties, etc. It was like the wine snobs of the 80s only much more widespread because beer is a lot more accessible. There are breweries in pretty much every city, even the small ones now. You can live in like a suburb of Cleveland and still have easy access to literally hundreds of really good quality beers, plus be a short drive from a dozen microbreweries... it just became a really easy hobby.

And then that spawned a wave of micro distilleries, which democratized having liquor as a hobby, plus you had all these celebs get into selling their own labels of tequila or vodka.

As usual in the US, it all comes down to a kind of hyper commercialization of alcohol as a product that is supposed to reflect who you are as a person. IPAs are the pick up trucks of the early 21st century.

But now there's a backlash and lots of people are quitting drinking altogether, or dialing way back. Who knows, maybe we will get a true teetotaler movement a century after the last one. It all goes in cycles.

But yes: "alcohol" is a dumb, weird hobby and people who obsess over and talk endlessly about drinking are weird and boring.

People in other countries don't have drinking culture? Have you hung out with Brits or Russians?

Anonymous wrote:I love drinking.

You do you, but it's exactly the same as saying "I love doing drugs."

This way of life seems empty and pathetic.

OP, I agree with you 100%.

I love drinking.

I think Americans are actually more conservative about drinking that other countries. So I disagree with the premise.

Anonymous wrote:Did it occur to you this is the people you are friends with and know?

I drink socially and no one saying this or posting this.

Generalizing based on the people you associate with is never a great plan.

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Uh, it's everywhere. Friend circles, work colleagues, neighbors, etc.

Did it occur to you this is the people you are friends with and know?

I drink socially and no one saying this or posting this.

Generalizing based on the people you associate with is never a great plan.

I'm not a teetotaler - I'll enjoy a drink on special occasions or on vacation, but I don't understand how we've gotten to a place where drinking for everything is so normalized. Can people not socialize or hang out without involving alcohol? If you can't have fun or enjoy the company of people without involving a drink... that's pretty sad. And pathetically boring.

Your instagam and tiktoks about your drinks every weekend? Impending snowstorm and you've got beer and wine, so you're set? It's sad. That's... fun?!

People in other countries don't do this. People don't post about their alcohol or make weird, kind of disturbing jokes about their boozey plans. I know we have an addictive culture in general (not just alcohol, but prescription drugs, bad food, etc) but it's really weird how drinking culture in America is celebrated.