Sometimes the point of alcohol is just to get a little bit drunk.
Similarly, asking anyone to defend their position on why sobriety is superior will eventually have them sound like they are insecure and judgemental.
I can’t think of a scenario where you ask someone to defend why they don’t drink but they are the one that is insecure and judgemental. There’s plenty of situations where people drink when they shouldn’t (eg driving) but it’s not quite so common to be in a situation where you must drink but don’t.
Maybe I’m just terminally online, but I’ve seen lots of people boast that they’ve “never gotten intoxicated” and view this as some sort of moral boon. It just reads as fear to me. Not that I’d force them to get high, but don’t knock it if ya haven’t tried it.
Generally (both online and in person) when someone gives a superiority complex because they don’t drink those people are always the people I think need a drink the most. That said, some of the most genuine folk out there seem to be the sober folks who don’t give off that superiority complex.
“I drink infrequently”
“I drink a few drinks a month”
“I dont drink more than a few times a year.”
Nah, there are lots of ways to do this
“Why don’t you just stop drinking for good then?”
“Because my consumption isn’t problematic.”
Like the person who is only drinking a half dozen times a year doesn’t have a relationship with alcohol at all. They don’t even think about it in a regular day. The only person who would hear a red flag in those responses is someone who does have a relationship with alcohol, and it’s probably not a good one.
But that’s exactly what an alcoholic would say
Sure, but this interpretation is almost entirely subjective to you. Most people don’t think in shades of alcoholic.
I think you need to learn what non-problematic drinking is. Most people do not have a problem and your responses ITT are quite childish and ignorant
That would be an extraordinarily rude response to those statements and I would seek to stay way the fuck away from anyone with that obvious of a behavioral issue.
You can’t explain anything to people who will intentionally misunderstand you and assume the worse.
Cause they want to have “a drink” occasionally.
That’s a pretty subjective statement as it really depends on whom you’re defending it to. Does consuming any amount of alcohol make one an alcoholic? I suppose differing people will have differing definitions.
That’s the point, though. Even if you have one beer a week, defending that if challenged to quit will make you sound like an alcoholic.
But that doesn’t make sense, one beer a week is absolutely not triggering chemical addiction. At that rate you could attack any ritual behavior, or regular consumption of anything beyond nutrient paste and water
To me the important distinction is between chemical and behavioral addiction, habits and compulsions.
No one said anything about triggering an addiction, or being addicted at all.
It’s the act of defending your alcohol consumption that can make you sound like an alcoholic.
If you are in a position where you need to defend your booze consumpion, you’re probably an alcoholic.
Not really. Say you have one beer a week after mowing the yard. I could say, “If you aren’t addicted, then just quit.”
I could say, “If you aren’t addicted, then just quit.”
Did anyone actually tell you that 1 beer a week is too much? Because it’s not a real case scenario in my mind.
And even if they really did it’s probably their own problem, and you don’t really have to defend yourself for doing that.
In any other case, if a person tells you “hey, tone it down with the booze” you probably should.
It’s actually quite simple, sounds like you need to change your friend group
Oh, I don’t have friends, it was just a shower thought.
This sounds like it starts from the assumption that it can only be consumed for the effect, not the taste.
I drink once, maybe twice every year, and never more than 2-3 drinks. And I specifically either sip a finger of Jägermeister, a White Russian, or expensive gin tonics (Scapegrace is brilliantly rich and nuanced, for instance), because I enjoy the taste.
What I do not enjoy is getting drunk. Not only because the following two days are worse than death, but especially because I don’t like how my body slips out of my control and how it encourages my mind to drift toward the dark place.
I think alcohol like music can not be separated from its effect upon the mind. I think those effects are entirely the point we take it, I think if it was just taste you would not drink your White Russian. I think when you drink it it is because you want to visit or at least be reminded of your dark place. Like all drugs it is vital not to ignore the positive effects they can have while also being very aware of the long term negative consequences. As to answering the original question I think if you drink less than the average it is permissible to give as your reasons that you sometimes like the way it makes you feel. You drink in the same way you put on music, not because of the sound or the taste but because it takes you to somewhere else and for a little while that is where you needed to be.
These are a lot of assumptions about a person you don’t know.
As a counterexample, if there were any other substance which could replace vodka and coffee liqueur in their entirety while not containing alcohol, I’d drink Virgin White Russians all day long. Same goes for Jäger. And I have already tried some non-alcoholic gins and they entirely miss the pungency, which is the very element which confers alcohol its unique taste.
No, I genuinely do not like alcohol for its effects. It is not my jam. If I want to enjoy both the buzz and safe dips into my dark place, I smoke a doobie.
As for your argument about music, I think this is the wrong point of comparison. If you’re referring to a strictly emotional reaction, taste has that covered all on its own.
I love the taste!
I’m also addicted to the substance.
Look at this guy, he actually likes the taste instead of just being addicted to the substance!
My uptake definitely increased significantly starting in early November 2024.
I’m a sucker for amaros, absinthes, and negronis.
All due respect, I cannot speak for your situation, but neither does your situation for everyone else who likes to sip alcohol.
I cannot stand the taste of cinnamon or licorice, but I don’t believe addiction is required to be able to enjoy them.
I think you’re reading a bit too much into my statement.
Not at all, which is why I specified this in mine.
I am merely working with what’s been given.
Yeah, like you could totally defend going for a wine tasting a few times a year without sounding like an alcoholic. The amount matters.
Try it with opiates lol.
cracks knuckles
I’m fine with my 12-pack a day of Keystones.
I enjoy drinking
I used to drink enough to think that. Lost quite a bit of weight when I switched to weed.
Ha, that’s actually true. Good one.
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That’s because the amount of alcohol you need to survive is 0, sugar on the other hand is both, needed and “bad”.
You need 0 refined sugar to survive too.
That’s true, my wifi was coming and going so I didn’t get to elaborate more in my original comment.
Na, fuck alcohol, it’s as deadly as rat poison, a little won’t kill you but no amount is good for you and the only reason you are defending it is because you think it has some good traits and it doesn’t. Maybe it’s a good thing it’s hard to defend since it is literally poison. Try Pot or Lsd both are less harmful than Alcohol and are more fun
Na, fuck sugar, it’s as deadly as rat poison, a little won’t kill you but no amount is good for you and the only reason you are defending it is because you think it has some good traits and it doesn’t. Maybe it’s a good thing it’s hard to defend since it is literally poison. Try Pot or Lsd both are less harmful than Sugar and are more fun
Fixed that for you.
They’re not completely wrong, though. The studies show that no amount of alcohol consumption is healthy for you.
But, they were an asshole for how they said it.
Not being healthy for you isn’t the same as always being a detriment. There is a non-zero amount of alcohol that can be ingested without causing harm. Sometimes having a small amount of something that isn’t great for you, but makes you feel good is fine. A few sugary snacks occasionally is never healthy, but it also isn’t always harmful. Same with alcohol, having a small glass of wine to celebrate something a couple times a year doesn’t provide nutritional health benefits, but it also isn’t going to cause harm.
Not being healthy is by definition causing harm.
You are thinking of unhealthy. Between healthy and unhealthy are neutral things that our body simply processes and expels as long as we don’t get oo much. The whole point of discouraging any consumption of alcoholic drinks is to counter the myths that alcohol provides health benefits.
A small amount of alcohol on occasion doesn’t cause harm to the body. It is processed and expelled. That is why fermented foods, which contain trace amounts of alcohol, are not unhealthy.
Most spices aren’t healthy in the way that the majority of people use the word for food. They don’t provide nutrients our bodies need. Pepper doesn’t improve our health, but it doesn’t harm us either in reasonable quantities. It is something our body simply expels, just like small amounts of many other things that our body processes and expels.
The point is that the level of alcohol that is not harmful is really low compared to what people think.
