Many things we take for granted today will be regarded as offensive in 30 years, and vice versa. Even a supremely enlightened creature like ResAlien, if he steps out of a time machine in 2048, will be regarded as a backward yokel.
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Originally Posted by ResAlien
I’d like to also mention how awesome it was to throw in that beautifully crafted touch of xenophobia there at the end. Those pesky immigrants infiltrating North America, insidiously changing our way of life. What happened to the Canada we once knew? What will it take to return to the great White north of time past?
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I like how you instinctively take the most uncharitable interpretation of any comment, and are eager to put people into the bigot box. I guess it's easier to paint a tidy caricature than to address the actual points people make.
If you read the study, you'd note that only a third of the people in the world drink at all. As regional variations get smoothed over by globalization, North America will come to be more like the rest of the world (as will China, Brazil, etc.). That's not xenophobic - barring a technological collapse, cultural homogenization is an inevitability.
There are also generational trends at work. Alcohol consumption in Canada peaked in 1978-79. Younger Canadians are drinking less than their counterparts did even 15 years ago.
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In 2013, an estimated 22 million Canadians 15 or older, or about 76 per cent of the population, reported drinking in the previous year, the report says. That's a three per cent drop from 2004, when 79 per cent reported drinking.
According to the report, the drop in drinking is even more apparent in young Canadians, aged 15 to 24. Among this group, the percentage who reported drinking in the last year went from 78 per cent in 2004 to 73 per cent in 2013.
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And those figures are for people who drank at all in the last year. The number of people who drink with any regularity is significantly lower. Governments are already able to relentlessly increase alcohol taxes without much pushback. They will show even less restraint once fewer than half of Canadians drink regularly.