@Rolfbart
Well, now *that* would be a suicidal thing to do. Didn't anybody told you, that alcohol only gives you an *illusion* of warmth? It actually makes your blood flow from your core to your skin, rather - resulting in feeling of warmth and actual *decrease* of core body temperature, effectively getting you colder.
Rather it is related to part of population still following the idea that "drinking well" equals "drinking as much as you can before you drop", even if they aren't actually alcoholics, who are bit of another story. That group is not big, but probably bigger than in another countries of the world, since at a moment of recent history drinking was almost propagandized via entertainment media as our national idea.
On one hand, we indeed, for a while now, look at people getting drunk and getting into some troubles rather with pity and humor, than a disgust. On the other turns out *nobody* likes some drunkard sleeping at entrance to their apartment flat, or at children's playground.
Also, to point attention to obvious, indeed alcohol was the most popular means of achieving mental oblivion for most of people in time of extreme stress here, especially in times after dissolution of USSR, currency devaluation, and other massive and local crisises, due to it being highly available. It left it's imprint in form of legions of people with drinking problem, who either get their lives straight, or eventually they *end*.
So, as long as we don't drop in some society-shattering crisis, the number of alcoholics will go on decreasing, and we may eventually reach *lesser* alcohol consumption level than, for example, Germany. Those who do not smoke and do not drink may die eventually as anybody else, but still statistically they die *later*.
27
@Rolfbart
Well, now *that* would be a suicidal thing to do. Didn't anybody told you, that alcohol only gives you an *illusion* of warmth? It actually makes your blood flow from your core to your skin, rather - resulting in feeling of warmth and actual *decrease* of core body temperature, effectively getting you colder.
Rather it is related to part of population still following the idea that "drinking well" equals "drinking as much as you can before you drop", even if they aren't actually alcoholics, who are bit of another story. That group is not big, but probably bigger than in another countries of the world, since at a moment of recent history drinking was almost propagandized via entertainment media as our national idea.
On one hand, we indeed, for a while now, look at people getting drunk and getting into some troubles rather with pity and humor, than a disgust. On the other turns out *nobody* likes some drunkard sleeping at entrance to their apartment flat, or at children's playground.
Also, to point attention to obvious, indeed alcohol was the most popular means of achieving mental oblivion for most of people in time of extreme stress here, especially in times after dissolution of USSR, currency devaluation, and other massive and local crisises, due to it being highly available. It left it's imprint in form of legions of people with drinking problem, who either get their lives straight, or eventually they *end*.
So, as long as we don't drop in some society-shattering crisis, the number of alcoholics will go on decreasing, and we may eventually reach *lesser* alcohol consumption level than, for example, Germany. Those who do not smoke and do not drink may die eventually as anybody else, but still statistically they die *later*.