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Comment by azinman2 | Hacker News Reader

Having lived in the UK and the US, I firmly disagree. I had never seen drinking at the extreme levels until I went to the UK.

I seriously doubt the entire articles premise that somehow alcohol binging is unique to the US. There are a lot of counties with a lot of forms of alcohol out there…

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As a Brit I was pretty shocked to arrive in Australia and see that binge drinking there is next level. The Melbourne Cup horse races is like a national drinking day, my employer took everyone out to get wasted (this was in Sydney, didn't even watch the races) and then it was understood that you'd probably take the next day off.

When I read your story, as an Aussie, I felt really proud that we'd "beaten" the Brits at getting pissed. Perhaps this is part of the problem.

My mother's Australian, and as a (partial) joke to rib some relatives of mine (I was born in the US; father is American), I used to sing this parody:

99 bottles of beer on the wall

99 bottles of beer

If you're an Aussie you'll drink them all down

99 bottles of beer on the ground

Not only is it a faster version of the song, I hadn't internalized quite how true it was. lol

How odd, I used to work with an Aussie (Sydney) expat and he was glowingly boasting how much better they are at anything because competition. It’s so much part of their culture he said, that they will out-do anyone, even at their core traits (and so concluded that Sydney pizza is better than anything I’ve ever eaten. Me. Italian from Rome :D)

To be fair, one of the best pizzerias in the world is in Melbourne (400 Gradi). And my Nonno lives in Adelaide!

It's not unique to the US, but the US shares a culture with the UK in this regard. It's not similar to other countries I've been to (or lived in). In Greece, for example, it's not uncommon to see teenagers being served/sold alcohol, just because it's not a big deal. People go out, they have a drink or two, and they go home.

In the US and the UK, if you aren't drunk when you get home, it wasn't a good night. Nobody here "pregames", simply because getting drunk is mostly something to be avoided.

The UK is an outlier in western europe (I think this is your point), but having lived in both countries, they definitely binge drink more than Americans.

Agreed on both points.

The happy hour culture and early closing time force binge drinking.

I lived in Bermuda which is the crossroads for expats from all over the world. Not sure if it’s an expat thing but the Americans didn’t drink nearly as hard as the Brits, Canadians, Aussies, Kiwis and South Africans.

> I lived in Bermuda which is the crossroads for expats from all over the world. Not sure if it’s an expat thing but the Americans didn’t drink nearly as hard as the Brits, Canadians, Aussies, Kiwis and South Africans.

I'm South African[1]. You'd be an alcoholic too, if you lived here :-)

[1] To be honest though, I rarely have a drink. Had one in 2020, half in 2019, 4 in 2018. I really should drink more, seeing that I still have past b/day presents from my sisters that total about 5 bottles of single-malt scotch, and from my wife a 25 year old Glenfiddich - all unopened.

Don't really get pubs outside the UK. A pub is basically a place where you can sit and enjoy yourself and chat with mates. Sometimes people can get outrageously drunk.

Also in UK you can buy alcohol from 18, (and if you go to the right places younger even...). It seems totally absurd that in the USA even a 20 YO can't buy himself a drink.

Bars exist elsewhere. It’s the same function, just positioned differently culturally. Yet many people across the US treat bars the same as they do in the UK.

That said, I see way more people absolutely trashed at night walking around cities in the UK than I do the US. I’m not saying no one is trashed in the US, I’m just saying the frequency, percentage of people, and “normalcy” was way higher in the UK.

I think the age thing in the US is part of the issue. Rather than teaching teens about social drinking in moderation, drinking is something that gets binged on when the adults are away.

Yeah, I've lived in both countries and UK is worse for sure.

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