Adult beverages acceptable to majority
An interesting article appeared in Business Week magazine recently. It was based on a new study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics.
It found that the enjoyment of alcohol beverage has a high degree of acceptance in the U.S. population. This bodes well for the future prospects for the adult beverage industry, from manufacture to distribution to retailing.
We have seen some social and political tendency in this country lately for the majority to insist – indeed legislate – that the minority be forced to adopt the majority's chosen preferences, whether it involves leisure activities, choice of food and drink, smoking, risk avoidance or any number of lifestyle choices.
The article found that more than six of 10 Americans consider themselves current drinkers. Hopefully this means the minority teetotalers won't soon be embarking on campaigns to force the rest of us to give up one of life's simple pleasures.
Given the numbers, such a campaign would certainly appear ill conceived; maybe "quixotic" is a better word: "foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals; especially marked by rash, lofty, romantic ideas or extravagantly chivalrous action," according to Miriam Webster. That definition would certainly seem to fit the aims of neo-prohibitionists.
But beware of a carefully manipulated drumbeat of "social studies" that would be intended to gradually change public opinion.
In the meantime it is comforting to know a large majority enjoy the responsible consumption of alcohol and find it completely acceptable.
The study cited other interesting statistics:
The higher the education level achieved, the more likely that person is to enjoy an alcoholic drink. Almost 75 percent of respondents with college degrees reported current alcohol consumption, while 44 percent of respondents who didn't finish high school drink currently. (Interestingly, studies in Montana have found those with advanced educations are also more likely to find gaming acceptable.)
People with higher incomes also represent a higher percentage of current drinkers, the report said. While just 45 percent of adults in families with incomes below the poverty level reported current drinking, 73 percent of those who have incomes four or more times the poverty level said they currently drink adult beverages.
More men, 68 percent, drink currently than women, at 55 percent.
The study found about 25 percent of the population said they never drink: 31 percent of them were women and 18 percent were men.
When it comes to ethnicity, more whites are current drinkers than their counterparts. The study found 70 percent of white men drink compared to 57 percent of black males, 55 percent of Asian men and 58 percent of Native American men.
White women reported 59 percent drink currently while 40 percent of black women, 45 percent of Native American women and 32 percent of Asian women reported current drinking.
The report said 63 percent of non-Hispanics consider themselves current drinkers compared to 51 percent of Hispanics.
So much for the stereotypes, eh? A higher percentage of white people with higher educations and incomes are current drinkers than ethnic minorities with lower educations and incomes. That defies the "conventional wisdom."
So, despite all the hysteria being stirred up by the social reformers and health zealots, drinking, and gaming for that matter, are pastimes that are enjoyed responsibly by the vast majority of Americans, especially the economically advantaged.
Let's toast to a life with freedom to indulge our enjoyable preferences without the dictatorship of a minority.