2008-12-20, 08:37 PM
tl;dr: Yes, as said above it's good in moderation. If you want the tl;dr keep reading.
Drinking a glass of red wine occasionally is recommended by doctors as good for the heart. Drinking occasionally will relieve stress. At one point, when I had a stressful period, at the end I'd have a few shots, and it would mellow me out and I was much less stressed out. Pretty much what you feel from a vacation.
Overly drunken sex is pomegranate, but if you have some wine before doing it, it's much better. I am speaking of a healthy relationship here. The issue with drunken sex is that alcohol in excess may cause you to make reckless decisions, such as sleeping with a stranger at the bar. Waking up next to a woman (or man) whom you would find absolutely repulsive while sober is never a good feeling. You can put yourself at risk for rape, murder, robbery, or kidnapping. And more than a few people get their genital herpes/syphilis/AIDS from such encounters.
As far as the long-term effects of alcoholism, they're pronounced. I worked at a clinic where one patient died at 35. The doctor said it was too bad, but he drank and smoked, so she wasn't surprised. Alcohol impairs relationships (drunks beating their wives and kids, health declining,) and work performance. Alcohol also COSTS MONEY. If you're buying beer every day, that's a lot of money down the toilet.
As far as people saying that American society is the most decadent and hedonistic as any culture has ever been.... no. Just no. In feudal Japan a drunken samurai could kill a commoner with no repercussions. And there's also good old ancient Greece, where priestesses led massive drunken orgies in praise to their pagan gods. I am fairly sure more STDs got passed around those than in our condom-carrying society.
Drinking a glass of red wine occasionally is recommended by doctors as good for the heart. Drinking occasionally will relieve stress. At one point, when I had a stressful period, at the end I'd have a few shots, and it would mellow me out and I was much less stressed out. Pretty much what you feel from a vacation.
Overly drunken sex is pomegranate, but if you have some wine before doing it, it's much better. I am speaking of a healthy relationship here. The issue with drunken sex is that alcohol in excess may cause you to make reckless decisions, such as sleeping with a stranger at the bar. Waking up next to a woman (or man) whom you would find absolutely repulsive while sober is never a good feeling. You can put yourself at risk for rape, murder, robbery, or kidnapping. And more than a few people get their genital herpes/syphilis/AIDS from such encounters.
As far as the long-term effects of alcoholism, they're pronounced. I worked at a clinic where one patient died at 35. The doctor said it was too bad, but he drank and smoked, so she wasn't surprised. Alcohol impairs relationships (drunks beating their wives and kids, health declining,) and work performance. Alcohol also COSTS MONEY. If you're buying beer every day, that's a lot of money down the toilet.
As far as people saying that American society is the most decadent and hedonistic as any culture has ever been.... no. Just no. In feudal Japan a drunken samurai could kill a commoner with no repercussions. And there's also good old ancient Greece, where priestesses led massive drunken orgies in praise to their pagan gods. I am fairly sure more STDs got passed around those than in our condom-carrying society.