Over the last few years, the world has witnessed a growing trend of Millennials and Gen-Zs - whom I simply call young people - going alcohol-free.
You probably heard about the "NoLo movement", "sober curious” people or "teetotalism"? No?
Me neither, I just looked it up. Seems we can not discuss anything without coming up with a cool stupid name for it now, be it a movement, group, pathology, you name it. But I digress.
In a nutshell: alcohol is losing its cool, and it’s a worldwide trend.
If you need evidence, just take a look at the alcohol industry.
Like any business fighting for survival, they spend millions to stay on top of the last trends. And what products are they pushing right now? Alcohol-free beers, cocktails, liquors and spirits.
If this isn't enough to convince you, 26% of 16 to 24 year-olds in the UK are now completely abstaining from alcohol. This should drive the point home. The UK, of all things.
There seem to be a few reasons why this trend is ongoing.
First, we now have extensive research showing the negative impact of drinking on health, family, social relationships and overall well-being.
As if they were needed in establishing that truth.
Second, the economic context makes young people - often under-paid and over-busy - less wary of spending money on booze.
They’re still spending money on stupid sh*t. We all do.
Third, the online world has made us more cautious of our public behavior as everything is now recorded in the public ledger of social media.
Because what’s happening online today would never bring shame on anyone.
Fourth, pop culture has stopped glamorizing drinking and smoking in movies, TV shows and advertising.
We know too well TV would never cater to audience preferences.
Jokes apart, while I can see all these reasons playing a role in the world going sober, I need to share with you an interesting shower thought that hit me this morning.
Tighten your seat belt, you're in for a ride.
I've been dipping my toes back into philosophy for a few weeks, usually while woodworking or waiting for the girls to finish gym practice.
Right now I am listening to a fantastic series on Friedrich Nietzsche.
Nietzsche had this famous quote:
“There have been two great narcotics in the history of Europe:
Christianity and Alcohol.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche
His body of work extensively covers man's perpetual attempt to escape the harsh reality and suffering of life, an endeavor he regarded with a profound disdain.
Nietzsche believed in the potential for human greatness through embracing suffering and the rejection of comfort.
He argued that Christians, like all humans, desire to live extravagantly and experience fame, success, pleasure and wealth. But rather than admitting that their failure to achieve these urges was because of them being too weak, lazy, or lacking talent, they label such pursuits as "evil" and make a virtue out of avoiding them.
Tada. Problem solved.
He then pointed out that those who criticized Christians for being weak and seeking easy answers to life’s suffering were often doing so standing at the bar downing pint after pint of beer.
He goes on to explain that both are just using different ways to escape the reality of life and numb themselves to their own shortcomings.
So, what do Nietzsche, Christianity, alcohol and young generations going sober have in common?
We as human beings have always looked for ways to avoid the inner-dialogue of our own limitations and the challenges we face in overcoming them.
Whether labeling our desires as "evil" or drowning our failure to achieve them in alcohol and narcotics, we seek comfort in avoiding what we perceive as bugs in our system, but which are, in fact, features designed as catalysts for personal growth.
Why then, in a world where people feel more lost than ever, do millennials suddenly find the courage to turn their backs on alcohol?
Excuse my lack of optimism, but I don't get the feeling we're becoming any more brave as a species. Yet, out of nowhere, our youth would defy all probability by abstaining from one of our most basic urges ?
I don’t buy it.
There has to be another reason for this.
Then this morning, it struck me.
We have been walking around with a promising new way to avoid life’s problems for about three decades, but it's only been a handful of years since it grew to surpass the evasive powers of faith and alcohol combined.
Today, we can escape reality on demand, for free, at any time.
In case you still wonder, I am talking about smartphones.
Could they be the thing that tipped the balance and empowered people to ignore alcohol?
After all, this is the new worldwide pandemic: people jumping on their phone at the first sign of boredom or inner-thoughts disturbing them.
I need to play more with this idea, but I think it holds.
What if the persona we're meticulously crafting online, further and further away from the truth, is the equivalent of the confident, uninhibited drunk version of ourselves?
The phone is even better than alcohol in that there is no painful hangover, no risk in confronting people.
We can safely distract ourselves and be "social" from the comfort of our home.
What would the phone-version of a hangover look like then?
Maybe, after years of meticulously crafting your ideal persona online and striving to keep your real-life aligned with this fantasy, one day the dissonance within yourself becomes too much to bear, leading to depression and burnout.
Wait…