Reflection on the close links between capitalism and alcohol abuse in the UK
These are the fourteen buildings that occupy a lively commercial street in Portsmouth city centre, and the noticeable thing about this selection is that more than half of them sell alcohol, this making it all the more easy for local people young and old to grab some alcohol to satisfy their vice. Be that groups of students off for a night out, couples young and old out on date nights, working aged men downing post-work pints of kidney failure coloured ale at the Wetherspoons on the corner, gangs of youths congregating in the square sharing vapes and cans of cheap cider, and middle aged women dressed up for a theatre trip and sipping prosecco, alcohol remains a common means of bringing people together, and allowing them to find pleasure and enjoyment away from the struggles and alienation within their working lives. However, amidst this pleasant sounding concept and past the inviting open doors of the brilliantly lit bars and beyond the high backed seats, low ceilings and walls filled with local memorabilia in traditional pubs, a dark and lesser known side to it can be observed. One which effectively exemplifies and only serves to make more apparent the dimensions of this failing capitalist society with which they function.
The evidence of clearly disguised addiction and dependency, something that would only serve to have been down to a whole host of external factors, is the epitome of the lack of class consciousness of those leading society, and their limited understanding of the struggles of the people within the workplace, thus explaining the alienation that they would typically experience. This would lead to these individuals often resorting to methods of coping with this, these typically also involving minimal social human contact. Equally, these problems continue to remain prevalent with the recurring theme of commodity fetishism which capitalism thrives off of, and which monetisation of pleasure, happiness and wellbeing becomes the means by which society operates, these merely becoming seen as commodities, of which to add or reduce the social and monetary value that the individuals hold within the current economic system. This vicious cycle then continues through alcohol companies thriving off of this mentality and using it as a means of gaining greater profit, whilst also remaining heavily exploited, in competition and repressed through this system in place. Moreover, increased evidence of these failures can be noticed, in that, in spite of this rising success of the alcohol industries in supplying for ever increasing demand, pubs are rapidly closing or losing substantial income due to price and accessibility of alcohol (something which few pubs compete successfully on, thus explaining their failures draw in visitors).
This situation with alcohol does, however, hugely contrast with that for drug addiction problems within the UK. Hard and soft drugs of all forms remain to have a huge stigma attached to them, and their decriminalisation is something many frown upon (this being noticed with , thus making it harder for an addict to gain support for their addiction as well as this illegality creating a sense of glamour that could only serve to entice impressionable people to engage with their use more. This is, however, very clearly not the case with alcohol in that, in spite of having very similar (if not greater) effects and levels of risk on the individual, their wellbeing, and thus having knock-on problematic impacts on wider society as a result, it is very much seen as a positive thing that is naturally done and widely accepted, considering my aforementioned points. Without decriminalisation, with there being a lack of safe and well regulated access to reputable suppliers of drugs as a result of this issue, and thus greater safety and wellbeing concerns, this issue is rarely seen so much with alcohol (a comparatively better regulated industry and seen not to differently from the food industry), largely down to its legality. It is, therefore, because of this that people affected by alcohol abuse related disorders would likely feel more inclined to get the necessary medical and professional support required to provide for their issues, thus making alcohol's damage to society seem like a comparatively lesser threat than that relates more to individual difficulty and personal mental wellbeing, as opposed to being purely down to the issues posed by the current capitalist society in place. This is especially true considering the clearly established facts that many things that are detrimental to one's wellbeing, along with alcohol, that are legal, put many vulnerable people at risk, which are very much legal, such as unhealthy food, social media, technology, smoking and vaping, yet which don't get seen as having a huge stigma regarding this problem, and which get more easily monitored by employers. Similar issues are seen with regard to physical and mental wellbeing being seen as requiring commercial, heavy monetisation, and strong protection against individuals' own mindset which are relied upon, such as with sectors such as drug companies, therapy and private healthcare continuing to rise in influence and popularity, as opposed to reversing and acting on the capitalist induced root causes of these specific issues that threaten the workers' livelihoods, and prove that increased class struggle and collective mobilisation is required to properly combat these instead (especially since they act as the ultimate means of alleviating oneself from the workplace and reducing greater alienation to come that preserves this cycle observed, particularly with mental health issues in general having been seen to also be on the increase as a result as well- these often accompanying or encouraging alcoholism).
To further substantiate this argument, it is seen that 76% of adults in England according to the 2024 Health Survey for England (aged over 16) drink alcohol of some description. However, this may appear to somewhat contradict information with regard to the individuals admitted to drug and alcohol rehabilitation facilities, of the 45% of those who had both drug and alcohol dependency issues combined, 30% had only alcohol issues, making alcohol dependency seem to still perhaps overrule drug dependency or appear perhaps responsible as path for this in some way. It is also interesting to note that there does not appear to be a significant demographic and gender based divide between those admitted to rehabilitation for alcohol related issues at 60% being men and 40% being women, compared to for drug related issues with men making up roughly two thirds of the individuals undergoing rehabilitation. This can thus prove to be important in forming conclusions that there are likely similar reasons for the universally recognised repression of the workforce and their alienation having influencing their behaviours and interest in seeking out a coping mechanism as a means to operate within this system for both genders. Indeed, this does appear to very much be exemplified through the fact that of the people starting treatment from 2024-2025, 62% had problems with alcohol, 23% had problems with opiates, 19% had problems with crack cocaine, 22% had problems with cannabis, and 20% had problems with non-crack cocaine. These statistics for drug addiction would likely be considerably higher than described considering the stigma regarding them that was described in this article before.
However, it is the fact that this appears to be clearly on the rise within society at the point by which recession and decline in an age of austerity is reaching its peak that is likely the main cause of these issues as opposed to merely legality. It is, therefore, through this that the need for greater class consciousness and actions taken to provide better pay, more flexible working hours, improved conditions, and greater individual support that workers' wellbeing would improve, and that, instead of detracting from these to allow businesses to gain greater profits, these should naturally be implemented and improved. This would mean that the excessively capitalised, heavily rationed and hugely monetised alcoholic entertainment that distracts from this and only serves to promote capitalism would appear largely obsolete and of lesser importance (seeing as it would be required to change public perceptions of direct action, with it being arguably impossible to reach a truly socialist system if relations to alcohol aren't improved for the people, and that the capitalist system that exists is reversed) Workers do not need merely entertainment and consumption of brain altering liquid to function after all, and wouldn't otherwise rely on them in this same way. This would keep alcohol as an unsustainable product, the usage of which only reflects and relies on these issues.
Comments
Post a Comment