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Comment by qeternity | Hacker News Reader

As an American who’s spent most of their adult life working outside the US (Europe and Asia) I find this pretty hilarious. I mean, it may be true…drinking damage is absolute, not relative. But if America has a drinking problem, a huge chunk of the rest of the world are outright alcoholics.

Of course I think all of this is alarmist. Alcohol is one of those great traditions that has transcended centuries and generations. If I live a few years less, so be it. I’d rather be happy.

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I think this is missing the point a bit. In my experience, while some countries in Europe have a higher intake of alcohol on average, I have never met anyone who drink to cope with stress, work, etc. outside full-blown alcoholics. Americans do this a lot. In my opinion those are two different discussions: one about the effect of too much alcohol on your system and one of the tendency to drink in ways that is normally only seen in alcoholics (but in smaller quantities). While they might sound similar one is overconsumption (bad) and the other is normalisation of alcohol abuse (very risky, likely bad).

Edit: I didn't down vote your comment btw.

I live in London and pre-Covid, a good chunk of people I know have drinks after work 3 days a week. I’m not trying to nit pick (I like the UK drinking culture) but it just seemed like a very Ameri-centric view from someone who hasn’t spent much/any time outside the US.

>but it just seemed like a very Ameri-centric view from someone who hasn’t spent much/any time outside the US.

I live in Denmark, which has one of the highest rates of alcohol consumption among young people in the EU and almost the same overall as the UK but without the pub culture you guys have. Most of our social consumption is the unhealthy heavy drinking party kind. But this is raw amount consumed and you yourself said you like the drinking culture (I wish we had it here). I'm talking about people drinking to cope. Going to a pub 3 days a week and drinking alone at home after work to cope with stress etc. is very different.

Absolutely. With the pandemic and the social isolation, alcohol has kept me going. I know the judgemental people will label me, but honestly nothing else has helped. In the pandemic I tried many other coping mechanisms, exercise, social media, etc… but alcohol, strangely enough kept me grounded through this mayhem. I am pretty sure I’ll wean off it when the world gets it’s shit together.. pardon my French

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