By the way, I once read an article (don’t remember which journal, but it was one of the upper-echelon peer-reviewed social science journals) describing how, when distilled liquor first became widely available in Europe, it caused social problems until the culture was able to assimilate it. Basically, people were used to drinking wine and beer; there was no cultural framework for the drinking of spirits. So, introducing a new intoxicant into a culture tends to lead to abuse, regardless of the culture.
could American Indians and Australian Aborigines consume alcohol "normally" in lower concentrations?
[Moderator Note]
While I think code_grey’s post was unnecessarily snarky, I also think Odesio’s post is just serving to further ratcheting things up. This is GQ. Let’s dial it back a bit, and avoid making personal remarks about another poster’s intentions or viewpoint. No warning issued.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
It’s likely that that’s what these Indians had instead of wine. Exactly what alcoholic beverage they had did not stick in my memory, just that it was mild compared to distilled spirits.