Agreed. I think what Im getting at is that (in my mind at least and I certainly could be wrong here) I just dont think it was some huge majority of people drink

Agreed. I think what Im getting at is that (in my mind at least and I certainly could be wrong here) I just dont think it was some huge majority of people drinking gin to the point of being drunk all of the time. I recently was "lucky" enough to be in between contracts for longer than I want to be. I had nothing to do and no prospects. I could have gotten sloshed and wasted all day every day. But I didnt. Why? Because 1) I hate to feel hungover and 2) I dont really like being drunk except on very very rare(and as I age getting rarer) occasions. I just dont think people are wired to all be alcoholics on a mass scale. Its certainly a problem with too many people but not as much as described in gin hysteria. However Im a sample size of 1, and I wasnt there.