Human sacrifice was also pretty popular for a pretty long time, as was autocracy. Alcohol isn’t that bad, obviously, if bad at all, but that’s not a good argument on it’s own.
Also; factually inaccurate. I’m not sure how much evidence of alcohol there is in the new world civilisations, and Islam, which forbids it, has been around for a millennia and a half.
You can’t ban something unless it exists and is a part of your society. Alcohol existed prior to Islam in Arabia and still exists there today. Legal Prohibitions do not cause a substance to disappear.
Alcohol is just fermented grain. Everyone had grain. Therefore everyone had alcohol. Including the Americas
So yes, there is evidence of alcohol consumption in the New World prior to European contact. Indigenous peoples in various parts of the Americas developed fermented beverages from local ingredients long before Europeans arrived.
North America: Various tribes produced alcoholic drinks from berries, maize, and other native plants. For example, the Apache made tiswin from corn, and the Chicha was popular among many tribes in North America.
Central America: The Aztecs brewed pulque from the sap of the agave plant. This drink was not only consumed for enjoyment but also held religious significance.
South America: Chicha, a beer made from maize, was widely consumed across the Andean region. This beverage was integral to social and ceremonial functions.
These indigenous beverages varied widely in production, ingredients, and cultural significance but demonstrate that alcohol consumption was indeed present in the New World prior to European contact.
Fair enough. It looks like pulque, at least, was recorded as not being used recreationally, which is probably what I was remembering, but even that I doubt, just based on human nature.
It’s still highly unlikely Alpharabius ever discussed political philosophy over a beer. There might have been local Jews that could supply it, but the cultural taboo would have long since been totally integrated. It wasn’t ye olde prohibition or something. And it’s still not supported that drinking is objectively, universally desirable in some aesthetic sense, which is kind of what “it is cool” suggests in the original context.
Human sacrifice was also pretty popular for a pretty long time, as was autocracy. Alcohol isn’t that bad, obviously, if bad at all, but that’s not a good argument on it’s own.
Also; factually inaccurate. I’m not sure how much evidence of alcohol there is in the new world civilisations, and Islam, which forbids it, has been around for a millennia and a half.
You can’t ban something unless it exists and is a part of your society. Alcohol existed prior to Islam in Arabia and still exists there today. Legal Prohibitions do not cause a substance to disappear.
Alcohol is just fermented grain. Everyone had grain. Therefore everyone had alcohol. Including the Americas
So yes, there is evidence of alcohol consumption in the New World prior to European contact. Indigenous peoples in various parts of the Americas developed fermented beverages from local ingredients long before Europeans arrived.
North America: Various tribes produced alcoholic drinks from berries, maize, and other native plants. For example, the Apache made tiswin from corn, and the Chicha was popular among many tribes in North America.
Central America: The Aztecs brewed pulque from the sap of the agave plant. This drink was not only consumed for enjoyment but also held religious significance.
South America: Chicha, a beer made from maize, was widely consumed across the Andean region. This beverage was integral to social and ceremonial functions.
These indigenous beverages varied widely in production, ingredients, and cultural significance but demonstrate that alcohol consumption was indeed present in the New World prior to European contact.
Chicha can be made from any fruit with glucose in it, it’s basically another word for alcohol.
Fair enough. It looks like pulque, at least, was recorded as not being used recreationally, which is probably what I was remembering, but even that I doubt, just based on human nature.
It’s still highly unlikely Alpharabius ever discussed political philosophy over a beer. There might have been local Jews that could supply it, but the cultural taboo would have long since been totally integrated. It wasn’t ye olde prohibition or something. And it’s still not supported that drinking is objectively, universally desirable in some aesthetic sense, which is kind of what “it is cool” suggests in the original context.
Depends on what you understand by “bad”. Regarding health, it certainly is.
No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health
Yep. It also causes a lot of social disorder and addiction. The argument for it is that people like it.
If it wasn’t clear from context, I meant socially or ethically.
Socially or ethically, I think I know what you mean.
I am being pedantic now and say that it can even be bad socially and ethically as a consequence of that or as a consequence of health concerns.
https://youtu.be/gK4DMt8ARyU
I was wrong, I dint notice that the other commenter said “every human civilization” we can’t know this as we don’t know every human civilization.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://piped.video/gK4DMt8ARyU
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.