I find your response very perplexing. You make this great analogy with sugar (that's really good! I'll make sure to use it in the future) and then you just kind

I find your response very perplexing. You make this great analogy with sugar (that's really good! I'll make sure to use it in the future) and then you just kinda.. Dismiss it with a "well I'm already addicted to that" ??? I'd encourage you to take that analogy further and think about - sugar is significantly more addictive. Almost everyone basically craves sweet things regularly. Unless predisposed to alcoholism the vast majority of people do not crave alcohol. If you start to drink and you are thinking about getting a drink when idle at work - then you have an issue and should probably stop. I get the sense from your response that you think this is the default - but I can assure you it's not. At the moment I drink about once every couple of weeks. During the pandemic I was very busy and didn't drink at all. At no point did I "want a drink". Alcoholism is a very serious issue that affect many, but for the vast majority of society this isn't a direct concern (though it seems to affect European countries a lot harder) - sugar is consumed regularly and is vastly worse for your health that a few drinks once a week or something to that effect - sugar has basically no social benefits for you. And basically no longer term benefits. There are no sugar orgies I'm sorry to say. It just momentarily makes you a bit happier You can continue to not drink and life will pass you by. If you're in an alcohol consuming society you will just make fewer connections with people, make fewer friends and fall in love less. But it's doable. I think back on all my close friends - and if I didn't drink EVER I think I'd estimate I'd have 30-50% fewer friends. It's not the end of the world - but it's a significant difference. Most people are shy and take time to open up (myself included). Maybe you connect a bit, but then life makes you sail-by. I now live in a society where people drink a lot less and I constantly make acquaintances that just don't stick. A night out with some drinks doesn't fix everything, but it definitely gives people a chance to connect in a way that's much harder organically. You could argue that "real" "true" friends will connect regardless - it's probably true.. Like 60% of the time? So you leave 40% on the table My own mental analogy would be like if you insisting everyone reach out to yo by email b/c you're worried about your privacy. Sure you'd still make some friends and still have a life.. But most people won't even bother - and they'll have their orgies on Facebook without you