The number of people going on and on about their wonderful alcohol free lives

[Eastie77Returns]

It’s a bit boring now. Every other Opinion essay or online article today is written by someone waxing lyrical about their decision to stop drinking and how incredible their lives are now followed by judgy comments about the poor saps who still drink, use it as an emotional crutch and are too wine addled to realise they are drinking themselves into an early grave. It’s all a bit sanctimonious and honestly…who cares?

I’ve never watched an episode of Love Island or Strictly and I don’t subscribe to any lifestyle magazines. I doubt the glossy, gossip magazines would have articles on being teetotal anyway since I imagine they all glamorise the party/celebrity lifestyle and a fair amount of their revenue comes from advertising alcohol brands?

I mainly read current affairs and political magazines (Prospect Magazine, The Atlantic..) but I read the print versions because I find it difficult to read long form articles online - kills my eyes. I do read from news outlets online such as the Guardian, Indy, plus US publications NY Times and Washington Post and Le Monde. The Guardian seems to be worst for the smug, preachy columnists!

You say 'no-one cares' about the topic OP but also say you see articles on it published widely in so many publications that you find it irritating and feel bombarded with it. So clearly lots of people do care if there is that much of an appetite from editors for articles on the topic?

Presumably people don't force alcoholic drinks on you because you drink alcoholic drinks. People don't try and persuade me to eat chocolate because I don't need asking twice.

No matter what you do, you are going to die. There is no avoiding that.

That said, the UK has a drinking culture, it is likely people's health is affected from drinking too much (hence the articles)

I guess all processed foods, alcohol, tobacco and any recreational drugs could be banned and users subject to jail time. They tried that with prohibition in the States, and it predictably didn't work. People are going to do what they want to do, and besides, the government likes the tax revenue.

Ban all processed foods? That would include stuff like frozen peas, dried lentils and bread. A lot of food needs to be processed before we can eat it, or is processed in a way that means we can store it (frozen, tinned, dried, pasteurised, etc,) or made into something else, like milk and cream being made into yogurt, butter and cheese.

I imagine people do enjoy reading them tbh as they wouldn't publish them otherwise. They're maybe a bit click baity as drinkers might read out of curiosity and non drinkers might read for encouragement or solidarity.

That said, I don't personally think going AF would significantly improve my life. It's part of the culture of my friendship groups, so I'd miss out on a sense of community if I drank nothing. But I try not to drink alone as the sociable aspect isn't there then

I've never understood Dry January. If you don't overdo it over Christmas you don't need to deprive yourself for a month.

I honestly haven't noticed anything like this and I don't drink (haven't for years as alcohol violently disagrees with me and I don't go on about it), so it is probably something I would have noticed, iyswim.