is drinking alcohol progressive?

the author of an article in Outlook India proudly explained how he consumed alcohol while trying to tell the story of journalism in Outlook India. Not only was it irrelevant, but only served the purpose of showing him a "progressive" individual.

i am fed up with the people who tell me that drinking alcohol is a sign of progress! a professor here explained me about lefties. drinking and non vegetarianism is considered a sign of progressive people in India where both are considered "not good". in North America however, being vegan is associated with lefties where it is not a norm. these lefties mistake progress for difference. to be a progressive minded individual, one neither has to be a non-vegetarian and/or a drunkard but irrespective of their habits one has to be progressive in the real sense of the word.

how many agree if i say that taking drugs (hash/heroin) is a sign of progress? hash is legal in the Netherlands. they sell them(only in some pubs) like alcohol selling in America(only in liquor stores). drugs only damage head; alcohol also damages liver. governaments spend millions to ask people not to drive when they are drunk and yet most accidents happen because of drunk driving. real progress in deed! now, how can people say drinking alcoholic beverages is progressive when they do not consider drugs a sign of progress? to put it in plain, simple English, these "left-liberals" follow the "principle of convenience". if you like drinking drink it; if you like doing what others do not do because of religion/culture/tradtion, do it. but do not tell me it is becasue you are progressive.

not drinking and not eating meat is hard. i go hungry in many airports when they can not even give a bun and cheese while they conveniently stuff in meat in between and sell them. "no veggie burger sir!", they are not even sorry. forget about cultural non-conformance, nothing they do is physically hard.

my uncle told me a funny thing about society: we have more police outposts, more old age homes, and more hospitals in our town than we did before, our town is progressing! more crime, more children not caring for their parents and more diseases can not reflect progress. this is digress.

but the "progressive" people have made the life/maths easier now; just count the holes in their liver, you will know how developed your society is! easy in deed!

quarter

quarter was a term to avoid. It meant country alcohol that was sold in thin transparent bottles, around my village. Of course it was a measure but it meant that colourless dirty liquid which less civilised drank. I was told to stay away from it at all costs and when I grew up even at the cost of friends. I realize not drinking did cost me some friends. I could not afford to go near and later on I did not want to.

My father gave me a bidi (country cigar) one day and asked me to smoke. My mother watched me. I was hesitant. I picked up the bidi and looked at my father. He said "go ahead bite it!". I inserted bidi in between my lips and looked at my father with pupils wide open. He he slapped my face with such force that apart from bidi falling, my head started reeling. It hurt me so much that I remember that slap every time I see a cigar! Yes my mother was so happy she was giggling looking at the groaning kid. I am glad my father did not ask me to try alcohol :) I would have been a handicapped the next moment.

Meat, my parents said, should never be eaten; it is less civilised and is against our traditions. Made perfect sense to me because of the respect I had for my parents. It still makes sense, not because of respect for tradition but (also) because I will not be a hypocrite when I play with a calf.

Are there religious reasons?
Why blame religion for injecting little bit of principle to our blood? Why call those parents archaic , orthodox or conservative who wanted to see their kid a scholar instead of having to see him in a gutter of the next village? Eating balanced food can produce enough stimulants and other ingredients needed for mind, body and soul. There is no need for artificially inseminating our gut with alcohol.

I needed two more quarters to buy juice from a vending machine. Sometimes we end up poor by keeping more money. If you want to be rich always, keep few quarters for phone, few for vending machines and if you do not want to beg by the side of the road, keep also few bucks and a quarter for the bus ride.

Who does not agree if I say north American economy is customized for sellers? Now you know why I thought about alcohol!