Culturas alcohólicas

Buscando algo de información para otro post que quería poner (un post curiosamente agustiniano) encuentro esto otro, un artículo de un profesor de la universidad de Indiana diferenciando las culturas alcohólicas del Norte y del Sur de Europa. Es uno de esos artículos completamente discutibles, carne de tertulia. Me parece interesante (y ligeramente provocador) ahora que la ministra ha permitido que nuestros hijos caigan en el alcoholismo:

"The southern drinking culture accepts wine, the most commonly consumed alcohol beverage, as a normal part of the daily diet. Wine is generally consumed with meals, drunkenness is not accepted, even at celebrations, and children are often given diluted wine with meals. In these cultures there are few perceive psycho-social problems and few strict control policies regarding its use. Moreover, there is little social pressure to drink. Latin based languages are spoken, viticulture is a major industry, and all of these countries were provinces within the Roman Empire (Jellinek 1962:388; Heath and Cooper 1988; Garnsey and Saller 1987; Davies 1984:26,45; Davies and Walsh 1983:264; FAO 1991; Lolli et al.1958; Smith and Hanahan 1982:19).

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In contrast to these Mediterranean attitudes, patterns and norms, the northern attitude concerning alcohol consumption is one of ambivalence (extremes of heavy drinking vs. abstinence). Grain-based drinks of beer and spirits are the most commonly consumed and manufactured alcoholic beverages. They are often consumed on occasions other than with meals. Heavy, often episodic drinking occurs on weekends or special occasions. Some people drink for the purposes of getting drunk. Public drunkenness is more or less accepted, but a high percentage of the population abstains. Age limitations are often established for legal alcohol consumption and alcohol is generally prohibited for children even at family functions. There are many perceived psycho-social problems related to drinking. With the exception of Britain, none are former Roman provinces. They speak a non-Latin (in most countries a Germanic) based language and do not have commercial viticulture (Davies 1984:26,45,55; Davies and Walsh 1983:264; FAO 1991; Jellinek 1962:383-384,387; Smith and Hanahan 1982:18-21). Moreover, temperance movements have primarily occurred in these cultures (Levine 1992)."