Is the European attitude towards alcohol better than the Americans'?

[Puzzlenaut]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_alcohol_consumption
Take a look on there -- some interesting information, especially finding out just how low on that list the US is -- 57th place, despite the wealth of Americans and the amount of disposable income to be spent on alcoholic beverages.

It is pretty shocking that barring one country -- South Korea -- the entire of the top 25 is European

There are all sorts of factors involved, ranging from price and taxation on alcohol to cultural norms and practices related to alcohol and tendencies towards alcoholism.

--

That article has been updated pretty notably since last I looked at it -- last time, the number 1 and 2 nations listd were Ireland and Britain; I'm glad statistics have been rectified with a more up to date WHO report

 

[CriticalMiss]

The UK has serious problems with binge drinking, so Europe isn't really 'better' than the USA. But countries like Italy and France don't have a problem with parents giving their kids a small amount of wine with meals, so they are exposed to alcohol early in a way that doesn't glorify it as some nectar of the gods. So in a way they have some kind of respect for alcohol and don't feel the need to drink to excess.

I really don't understand why people love drinking so much. At University people would frequently spend loads of money on a friday night getting pissed, to the point they were throwing up, couldn't remember the entire evening and had a hangover the next day. Where is the appeal? Some people would even go so far as to get drunk BEFORE they went out drinking...

 

[ClockworkPenguin]

The UK has serious problems with binge drinking, so Europe isn't really 'better' than the USA. But countries like Italy and France don't have a problem with parents giving their kids a small amount of wine with meals, so they are exposed to alcohol early in a way that doesn't glorify it as some nectar of the gods. So in a way they have some kind of respect for alcohol and don't feel the need to drink to excess.

I really don't understand why people love drinking so much. At University people would frequently spend loads of money on a friday night getting pissed, to the point they were throwing up, couldn't remember the entire evening and had a hangover the next day. Where is the appeal? Some people would even go so far as to get drunk BEFORE they went out drinking...

To be fair, if they are going clubbing as opposed to a pub, I can see why pre drinks would be done. Clubbing is pretty much impossible to enjoy sober, and the drinks in clubs are extortionate, so it's understandable why people would get drunk beforehand so that they don't need to buy anything when they are out.

 

[Seneschal]

I spent some time in Italy, and as an American, living in a town that has a $250 open container ticket law, was amazing that I could buy alcohol from streetcarts and drink it in the middle of the day walking down the street.

Something I noticed about my time in Europe: people drank all day; every restaurant I went to went out of their way to serve us alcohol, but at the same time, I never ran into drunk assholes. In an American city at 1:00 A.M., you can hear the drunk dicks shouting rude things at passing women, but I despite drinking all day, I didn't seem to see this in Rome.

From my impressions, it seems like alcohol in Europe is more ever-present (I was traveling with a Muslim who didn't drink, and the Italian waiters didn't seem to accept that, and brought him alcohol-laced drinks anyways - I would hate to be an addict and have to deal with that while traveling) but at the same time it's far more moderated and mentally healthy. Americans binge-drink, Europeans are more constant and moderate.

I know this forum has both Americans and Europeans, so I would love to hear what you all think about the Alcohol attitudes between the two continents.

It presents problems of its own.

It is a lot more casual and less glamorized, but many people are simply very high-functioning alcoholics. It's been hell trying to enforce DUI laws, as many people live (and drive) with 0.5? or more in their system. And kids still binge from the age of 14, though it isn't as self-destructive.

 

[CriticalMiss]

To be fair, if they are going clubbing as opposed to a pub, I can see why pre drinks would be done. Clubbing is pretty much impossible to enjoy sober, and the drinks in clubs are extortionate, so it's understandable why people would get drunk beforehand so that they don't need to buy anything when they are out.

But if you need to be drunk to enjoy something, why do it at all?

 

[Khanht Cope]

Even if a fully reliable study would conclude that France does consume a lot in total; it would likely mean it's because it would be amoung larger demographics with regular but not excessive drinking habits; and not necessarily that they have a bigger problem with morbid binge drinking than other countries more reputable for binge drinking.

The problem with binge drinking cultures is not the notion that "drinking is cool", it's the notion that "getting drunk is cool". And that's something the asinine "forbidden fruit" debate doesn't really get at.

Almost 10 years ago now, the UK government stupidly followed these tired lines of rhetoric about European drinking and started opening it up, relaxing laws and so on in the expectation that a nation of binge drinkers would magically transform into a wine-sipping café culture, and the problem only got worse.

The restriction/temptation discourse pales in significance next to cultural attitudes and social reinforcement.

To be fair, if they are going clubbing as opposed to a pub, I can see why pre drinks would be done. Clubbing is pretty much impossible to enjoy sober, and the drinks in clubs are extortionate, so it's understandable why people would get drunk beforehand so that they don't need to buy anything when they are out.

As someone who always went clubbing sober, (and despite being someone who generally finds drunkenness unpleasant) I disagree with that. The music sucks, but at least you can dance in public without looking insane. Dancing the way I do with any alcohol in my system would basically wreck me.

 

[OneCatch]

I spent some time in Italy, and as an American, living in a town that has a $250 open container ticket law, was amazing that I could buy alcohol from streetcarts and drink it in the middle of the day walking down the street.

Something I noticed about my time in Europe: people drank all day; every restaurant I went to went out of their way to serve us alcohol, but at the same time, I never ran into drunk assholes. In an American city at 1:00 A.M., you can hear the drunk dicks shouting rude things at passing women, but I despite drinking all day, I didn't seem to see this in Rome.

From my impressions, it seems like alcohol in Europe is more ever-present (I was traveling with a Muslim who didn't drink, and the Italian waiters didn't seem to accept that, and brought him alcohol-laced drinks anyways - I would hate to be an addict and have to deal with that while traveling) but at the same time it's far more moderated and mentally healthy. Americans binge-drink, Europeans are more constant and moderate.

I know this forum has both Americans and Europeans, so I would love to hear what you all think about the Alcohol attitudes between the two continents.

I think that restrained attitude is more Mediterranean and Southern European.
Here in the UK we have our fair share of drunken idiots [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ApXlK2-X_Q], to the extent where the Police recently suggested having 'drunk tanks' to put the drunk and disorderly/incapable in to sober up instead of them filling up police cells. They'd then be charged for the expense of it the morning after, rather than the police having to pay for it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24135219

And I've heard from friends that Scandinavia and Eastern Europe carouse roughly as much as us.

But yeah, from personal experience Italy in particular seems to be a lot more responsible with alcohol even though it's a lot more prevalent, and it's the same in Southern France and Greece as well.

 

[loc978]

Having been stationed in Germany and visited Italy, I can say definitively that a culturally shaming approach to controlling alcohol abuse works better than a litigious approach. In 3 years I never met a German who didn't drink, but I also never met a German I would consider a drunk.

Could use a little clearer labeling on the ice cream carts, though... some sundaes have a few shots of amaretto in 'em. It was mildly embarrassing, smelling like a girly liqueur in uniform... still, rather tasty.