I don't know about demons. I'm sure Anne Widdecombe'll be pleased to know that the argument that alcohol causes problems in society will no longer get in the way of her own theory i.e. that these problems are caused by young people no longer respecting the ten commandments. Y'know, "Thou Shalt Not Get Shitfaced And Bottle Your Neighbour".
We've long known that countries on the continent have a different kind of drinking culture, but that's often been understood as meaning that they don't feel the need to drink so much. It's not really been suggested that they have a different understanding of the social effects of alcohol. To discover that our expectation that alcohol abuse will lead to violence might be a self-fulfilling prophecy is very eye-opening. Especially when the government informs us that more than two pints in an evening counts as binge-drinking....
A lot of common sense points (behavioural effect of alcohol depends on culture and individual expectations). Really wish they'd been produced by someone who didn't work for the science/ policy research arm of an alcohol industry PR company:
Blooming eck: "MCM conducts social/psychological research on the positive aspects of your business. The results do not read like PR literature, or like market research data. Our reports are credible, interesting and entertaining in their own right. This is why they capture the imagination of the media and your customers."
As much as Kate Fox's article reads like common sense, I'm disinclined to be made a sucker. Thanks for pointing this website out.
It's frustrating, because much of this stuff has been verified by other sources. Nevertheless, the drinks industry won't be completely objective on the topic!
Her views on policy more or less echo those from the Consumer's Union Report from the 70s, and they went in without an agenda.
Short version: There's no better way to popularize something than for The Man to come out against it. Partly it makes whatever the thing is better-known, and partly, authority figures demonizing something instantly makes it alluring. Lying through your teeth about the effects of a drug also ensures that no one will ever believe you when you're not full of shit.
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(no subject)
Date: 2011-10-15 09:39 pm (UTC)We've long known that countries on the continent have a different kind of drinking culture, but that's often been understood as meaning that they don't feel the need to drink so much. It's not really been suggested that they have a different understanding of the social effects of alcohol. To discover that our expectation that alcohol abuse will lead to violence might be a self-fulfilling prophecy is very eye-opening. Especially when the government informs us that more than two pints in an evening counts as binge-drinking....
(no subject)
Date: 2011-10-15 09:49 pm (UTC)http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=MCM_Research
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Social_Issues_Research_Centre
(no subject)
Date: 2011-10-15 09:51 pm (UTC)"MCM conducts social/psychological research on the positive aspects of your business. The results do not read like PR literature, or like market research data. Our reports are credible, interesting and entertaining in their own right. This is why they capture the imagination of the media and your customers."
As much as Kate Fox's article reads like common sense, I'm disinclined to be made a sucker. Thanks for pointing this website out.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-10-15 10:01 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-10-15 10:05 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-10-15 10:27 pm (UTC)Short version: There's no better way to popularize something than for The Man to come out against it. Partly it makes whatever the thing is better-known, and partly, authority figures demonizing something instantly makes it alluring. Lying through your teeth about the effects of a drug also ensures that no one will ever believe you when you're not full of shit.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-10-15 10:47 pm (UTC)Related: Subjects given non-alcoholic beer and told it's beer act inebriated; subjects given beer and told it's non-alcoholic do not.
The effect of almost any drug/chemical on your physiology will be very much dependent on cultural opinions of that drug and its uses/effects.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-10-16 12:03 am (UTC)"causes promiscuity, violence and anti-social behaviour."
Date: 2011-10-16 03:26 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-10-16 08:05 am (UTC)