Donald Trump is fairly well-known for his relationship with alcohol—he doesn’t touch a drop these days, or ever, he’s stated. His brother, Freddy Trump, was an alcoholic, and died at 42 because of his heavy drinking. As a result, President Trump chooses to not imbibe: “He has said that his older brother Fred’s struggles with alcohol, which led to his death, convinced the billionaire businessman never to drink a drop.”
In the past, he’s also criticized the influence of the alcohol industry: “I’ve never understood why people don’t go after the alcohol companies like they did the tobacco companies…[a]lcohol is a much worse problem than cigarettes.” And he does have a point—alcohol is largely unregulated, yet many people die of alcohol poisoning, liver failure, or other health problems that result from alcoholism, every day. Alcohol ranks 4th in the line of leading causes of preventable death. 88,000 people die each year due to disease, sickness, and other causes.
The industry for advertising alcohol is huge. We are constantly privy to messages about what alcohol is—we’re made to understand that it’s something fun, not worth having a party without. We see sexy people drinking alcohol and are made to think, when we drink, we’re just like them. Bars and restaurants are often arranged to prominently feature the bar, and bottles are illuminated for better visibility. We’re unconsciously drawn to the beauty of alcohol, which is assisted further by the messaging we’ve received all of our lives.
What’s unfair about this influence is that many people are simply incapable of drinking modest amounts of alcohol. It’s unfair that it’s made to seem that anybody can drink, whereas many people have sensitivities or genetic predispositions to alcohol. Once many people stop drinking, they become all the more aware of how we’re made to view alcohol. That it’s easy to consume, attractive, fun, and worth shelling out money—to party and have a good time. But as a very preventable cause of death, it seems like we could be doing more to provide a clearer message of what’s actually behind those messages.
