Will this be the moment when, following the recent approval by the Government of the law on the prevention of alcohol consumption by minors, an uncomfortable, necessary and unpopular debate will finally open up regarding the deep roots of alcohol in our societies?

Beyond alcoholics, "alcohol addicts" are those occasional drinkers who find in alcohol that extra pleasure, desire, escape, security, joy, even sexual vigor… which the cultural industry has so exploited through film, television series, advertising, and literature. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone: who hasn't used the phrase "Let's meet up and have a drink/beer/wine" when meeting a friend?

Undoubtedly, alcohol consumption has deeply rooted sociological, economic, cultural, and legal ties. In our society, its consumption is openly established at celebrations and normalized on television and in our own homes, where, for example, we toast with cava or champagne on New Year's Eve. We've reached the point where we've transformed "the first drink with the family (for the young man or woman)" into a kind of transcendental rite of passage, that "entrance to the club."

Why does alcohol play such a central role in our relationships? Why is it consumed so constantly and on such a massive scale in the West? Does alcohol create and perpetuate any form of dominance? How long have these social patterns related to alcohol been established? There's a fine line between "I'm in control" and "I'm never drinking again." Are we ready to ask ourselves these and many other uncomfortable questions?

Vicente OrdoñezProfessor of Philosophy at the UNED reflects on these issues in his recent essay “Alcohol-worshippers. Drunkenness, Idiocy, Control” (Altamarea), which he brings to us in dialogue with David Sánchez Usanos, also professor of philosophy at the UAM and research coordinator of the Escuela SUR.