Wine Invents Nothing

"Wine invents nothing, only lets things out"

You will find this little gem in the New Testament of the Bible. Now I'm not a Christian myself, more Christian-friendly, but I do like to find little gems here and there in the scriptures and writings of any religion.

Let me tell you why I like this one.

From many years of observation I have come to several conclusions about the intake of alcohol in various forms by various people.

And from my reading and studies I know a tiny bit about the effects of alcohol on the human system.

It seems to me that one of the effects of alcohol on a person is to diminish or neutralise the effect the "censer" - that part of us we internally build up after a while that lets us know what is and what is not appropriate behavior in this or that situation. Yes, it is situational. I did not speak the same way to my friends as I did to my parents. My friends would just find that too weird for words.

Anyway, as this censer become less and less able to act, we see the unmodified behavior of the individual coming through.

Putting it bluntly, the pisseder you get the more truly you show your true self.

I don't mean mumbling and falling over. I mean your demeanor, the way you are with yourself and others.

Some get pissed and their smile getts bigger and bigger. And maybe they get a bit silly, but they are definitely geared to fun and the funny side of life.

Some get serious about the topic of conversation, mounting good or not so good reasoning for their part in the discussion.

Some become belligerent, spoiling for a fight with someone.

Some just fight, hit out, damage people and property.

But whatever it is, I maintain that you are seeing what that person is like at core - from self-assured and jubilant to insecure and aggressive.

So I can't help being disappointed when I read in the papers or hear on the news that the government is taking a serious look at youth drinking, because of the aggression and fighting. Or at drinking generally because of domestic violence.

Look. You will never solve these problems because you are looking in  the wrong place. Alcohol is not the cause, merely the thing that highlights it.

Ask not why there are so many drunken people who are therefore aggressive. Ask rather why society is becoming more aggressive - as shown by the hard clear light of the effects of the alcohol. Address that rather than merely clamping down on drinking. That will only sweep the problem under the carpet.

Unless, of course, that is exactly what you want to do.