Quote:
Originally Posted by manaboutown
I guess you have not spent much time in, say, Gallup, NM or Winslow, AZ where you will see Navajo men passed out in streets anytime, day and night. Alcohol is a huge problem in the area. Lots of drunk drivers, too. It would seem some groups are predisposed to alcoholism while others are not.
"A survey of death certificates from 2006 to 2010 showed that deaths among Native Americans due to alcohol are about four times as common as in the general U.S. population. They are often due to traffic collisions and liver disease, with homicide, suicide, and falls also contributing.[6] Deaths related to alcohol among Native Americans are more common in men and among Northern Plains Indians.[7][8][9] Alaska Natives showed the lowest incidence of alcohol-related death.[10][11] Alcohol misuse amongst Native Americans has been shown to be associated with development of disease, including hearing and vision problems, kidney and bladder problems, head injuries, pneumonia, tuberculosis, dental problems, liver problems, and pancreatitis.[12] In some tribes, the rate of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder is as high as 1.5 to 2.5 per 1,000 live births, more than seven times the national average,[13] while among Alaska Natives, the rate of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder is 5.6 per 1,000 live births.[14]"
From: Alcohol and Native Americans - Wikipedia |
Again - that doesn't mean that all Native Americans fit the hypothesis. There are millions of people with Native American DNA in their blood who drink responsibly and have no addiction at all. A glass of wine with dinner, maybe a shot of bourbon when they go out dancing in the Squares. You can see it right here in The Villages.
In addition, what I observe here the most, with regards to addiction, are white 20-somethings strung out or picking their skin behind Aldi's or in the plaza that has Takis and Firehouse Subs. They're clearly caucasian. And most of the drunks who get arrested at City Fire are a) white, and b) repeat offenders.
Does that mean white people are more predisposed to alcoholism? Nope. But you can create any statistic to satisfy your hypothesis if you really want to. Here's mine, which makes no sense but I made it up:
MOST posters on Talk of the Villages are White. MOST identify with the gender and sex they were assigned at birth. MOST are conservative. MOST identify as some denomination of Christianity, or a non-denominational Christianity. MOST drunk people in the Villages are white.
Therefore, my statistic: White heterosexual cis-gender Christian conservatives who post on Talk of the Villages have an 89.6% genetic predisposition to alcoholism.
I'm sure that's not true. But that's just exactly how easy it is to use a statistic to push or justify a prejudice.