PowerSwitch

Presumably the booze culture in Britain is viable at the moment because of availability, consumer wealth and prices.

All of these factors are set to decline with PO, do we think Britains booze culture will continue?

Im not suggesting people will stop drinking , but maybe the ?50-?100 friday/saturday nights that cause all the problems maybe soon a luxury for the rich? Is the high street booze scene even viable without booze for the masses?

Is this a good thing? Or will people pump other things into their systems?

Shame I like a good **** up!

Totally_Baffled wrote:
Is this a good thing?

The end of booze culture you mean? The best thing that happened on this island since that apple dropped on Newton's head!

Totally_Baffled wrote:
Or will people pump other things into their systems?

Like what? Petrol fumes?

Totally_Baffled wrote:
Shame I like a good **** up!

And so do I, but you tell me it's not gonna be much more fun to drink your home made Scotch and mead rather than drink those filthy, sugary, chemical, 2 for 3 Quid, blue WKD's!

I think history shows alcohol consumption increases in times of economic hardship... but I expect the ?50-?100 Friday/Saturday nights that cause all the problems will be less of a problem. People will just quietly drink themselves to death at home!

Beer and gin were popular before the oil age and doubtless will be after it.

biffvernon wrote:Beer and gin were popular before the oil age and doubtless will be after it.

Thats true but the population was much smaller.

Totally_Baffled wrote:
Or will people pump other things into their systems?

[/quote]

Like what? Petrol fumes?

LOLOLOLOL!

Ironic thing is , I think the Russians got so desperate for VOdka at one point some were resorting to Kerosene!!

It is an interesting point though, Chris is right, usually alcohol consumption goes up in economic hardtimes.

But can we really drink as a nation , more than we do today? Im not sure we can.

Alcohol IS actually quite expensive, its just our pumped up wealth(artificial wealth- mostly credit availbility!) enables us to afford it.

I think alcohol sales will plummet with everything else.

Might be a good thing, but then I am a 'glass half full' kind of man !

Totally_Baffled wrote: It is an interesting point though, Chris is right, usually alcohol consumption goes up in economic hardtimes.

But can we really drink as a nation , more than we do today? Im not sure we can.

Alcohol IS actually quite expensive, its just our pumped up wealth(artificial wealth- mostly credit availbility!) enables us to afford it.

I think alcohol sales will plummet with everything else.

In the event of an economic crisis I think you'd see a lot less people going out on the town and a lot more people drinking themselves to death at home. Many jobless and indeed homeless people manage to feed their alcohol addictions by buying cheap booze.

BBC online wrote: The discrepancy between the alcohol content of some super strength drinks ? around 9% per can or 4.5 units - and the Government's recommended daily safe drinking levels of three to four units per day for men and two to three units per day for women.

One can of super strength cider can cost as little as 59p which appeals directly to young and underage drinkers as well as those with alcohol dependency problems


http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressr ... ooze.shtml

So considering that you can get nearly 40 units of alcohol for under a fiver I think there's plenty of scope for alcohol abuse on a budget. So post-peak I think Britons will still be getting drunk, just with rather less style.

Totally_Baffled wrote:Alcohol IS actually quite expensive, its just our pumped up wealth(artificial wealth- mostly credit availbility!) enables us to afford it.

Cannabis for smoking is MUCH cheaper to produce in large quantities. Tend to keep people more passive and non-agressive than alcohol also. Definitely my choice in hard times.

Hi Empty.

At the moment you can drunk on a budget.

But wont peak oil ensure alcohol goes up in price, by a lot?

This coupled with shrinking incomes will squeeze even domestic boozing!

In the event of high prices people could go back to making moonshine out of potato peelings or whatever. I think things would have to get pretty apocalyptic before that happens.
The thing is about our drinking culture at the moment is that it's more about splashing your cash - expressing affluence - than getting drunk as cheaply as possible. So I suppose you'd see a lot less of that kind of drinking post-peak.

Go to the most poverty stricken parts of the world, and (unless they are muslim) you will find brew-it-yourself or moonshine of one form or another.

The British have been getting off their heads on Ale, Beer and (more recently) whisky and gin for a very long time. I can't see something as trivial as Peak Oil interfering with the habits of several millennia.

Booze culture is here to stay. Heres my favourite image of Booze culture by one of my favourite cartoonists - Hogarth's Gin Lane

click the image and then click it again for a good look

I particularly like the sozzled mum in the foreground who has forgotten that she is suckling her baby and lets it tumble over the railings when she decides it's time for a pinch of snuff...

I hope you guys are right, I dont think I can cope without beer !

Hopefully people will stop drink so much. Actually we need to exterminate alcohol. Life WILL NOT BECOME LESS FUN or any thing like that, if you believe that why don't you go out and buy some crack right now?!

I live in an economically depressed area where apparently no-one has any money, which is why if you walk past our local off-licence after 7pm every night you'll find all the local teenagers (and younger) hanging around trying to get someone to go into the shop for them. They can't afford to go out on the own so they drink cheap Perry and hang around street corners scaring everyone else. Welcome to the future!

Karl wrote:Hopefully people will stop drink so much.

If anything the opposite is likely. Look at the example of the Soviet Union or Victorian England. The poorest parts of Africa produce and consume prodigious ammounts of home brew maize beer.

Karl wrote: Actually we need to exterminate alcohol.

Fat chance. Nearly all mammals enjoy getting pissed and will do so given the opportunity. The desirability of 'altered states' seems to be hard wired at quite a basic pre-human level. .

Karl wrote: Life WILL NOT BECOME LESS FUN or any thing like that,

Er. Yes it will . I for one would miss good Belgian beer and red wine. Millions of others I think would agree with me. Alcohol free beer and wine just dont cut it taste wise. I also enjoy the relaxed feeling of mild inebriation, as do most people.

Karl wrote: if you believe that why don't you go out and buy some crack right now?!

Er... I thought we were talking about alchohol. what has crack got to do with anything? This comment seems to be a non-sequitur.