Alcohol... my worst enemy. It destroyed my childhood, gave me a reason to put my hands on my father, tore my family apart, and consumed my mother. If I could rid it from the world, I would. More than that, I would rid the world of stupidity, because alcohol isn't the problem, people are.
I know exactly how you feel and agree wholeheartedly. I was lucky not to see my father at his worst, but my mum and brother tell me it was serious. A few years back, he had a coronary artery blockage and nearly died of a heart attack. Since that day, he has not touched a single drop of alcohol and for that I am immensely proud of him. For him, alcohol was a way of escaping the harsh realities of a highly regarded, London based financial job. Sadly, his family was incredibly poor and so I can see why alcohol was a sad alternative.
That doesn't excuse him for his actions, though. It's the people we have to address, not the substance. Like they say, guns don't kill people, people do. If we change people's cognitions about alcohol, hopefully the problem will be reduced. It would take a monumental campaign, as prohibition actually saw a drastic rise in drink driving related deaths. What is needed is a focus on the psychological effect of alcohol, not the physical. We've all been shown the gory images of an alcohol riddled liver, a nicotine decimated lung and the injection points that caused HIV/AIDS, but what hasn't been pointed out is how it ruins everyone's lives. It isn't just the immediate family who suffer either: colleagues will be reluctant to trust a habitual drunk, passers by will remark on the yellow eyes and the economic implications of a life with alcoholism.
Stupidity is the greatest murderer in human history. Kill the stupidity, life continues.
CT: Why do Americans have such an incredible range of programs on Netflix? We get House of Cards and Breaking Bad but not Bones, Grey's Anatomy, Stargate, Skyfall, Firefly or Serenity. Curse the younger country and its technologically superior infrastructure.
