During the rapid expansion westward in America between 1790 and 1830, the average adult drank more than nine gallons of spirits per year. Most were drinking to get drunk and most of the drinking was done at home due to isolation on the frontier. Even in the eastern cities, industrialization caused widespread loneliness and anxiety from labor changes.
In modern day America, sales of alcohol during the COVID-19 pandemic have increased significantly. Just about all of that consumption happening at home because bars are closed. Americans are drinking more, more frequently, and alone.
Read America Has a Drinking Problem.
See also:
- One reason for the uptick in alcohol consumption is that activities we relied on for relief from every day stress and anxiety are no longer available to us (including drinking socially)
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Alcohol Is Technology for Cooperation
The paradox of alcohol consumption is that it’s bad for our health and costly to society yet continues to thrive. There is no evolutionary reason for humans to have evolved to enjoy the taste of alcohol (in fact certain Asian gene pools like mine have developed allergies to it). However, alcohol provides an extremely important benefit, down regulating the pre-frontal cortex and thereby improving cooperation.