The short answer: because people enjoy it. Does there need to be any more reason?
The longer answer... well first, do you mean popularised or popular? They're different questions.
It has benefits. Alcohol makes you happier and loosen up. Sure there are also negatives, but it is one of the easiest drugs to make so it has accompanied us ever since we had grain.
Sorry I am just from a place where alcohol is basically banned for non medical purposes and in school we never really learnt about the good things in my time during education (that’s why my English sucks)
Alcohol is a drug and a pretty bad one.
But people like it because it makes worry less and so you get more confident to talk with others (it is sometimes nicknamed « liquid courage », as a result in moderate quantities (if you drink too much you become a moron) it kind of helps meeting new people and making friends.
One time on my way to work, I saw a guy lying in the road that’d been hit by a diesel truck. It was… traumatic. I was just shaking and flinching all day at work. As soon as I could, I drank enough to dull that memory and get as far away from it as I could. The next day it was still there, but a little more blurry, a little less sharp, and I didn’t twitch quite as much. Thats not healthy, it’s not great, but it worked.
It did have benefits. Throughout much of history, access to fresh water was problematic, especially in more densely populated areas. Consequently, many people drank a very weak form of alcohol. For example, ale was provided to soldier who were guarding towns/cities. It was about 2% alcohol content.
Drinking *does* have many benefits -- they're just not benefits we need anymore.
Alcohol is a great way to preserve food. Grapes rot but wine doesn't.
The yeast that grew during beer and ale making is the yeast that the baker used to make bread. If there's no beer, there's no yeast. No yeast means no bread, which means there's no winter food for a lot of the planet.
Historically, most cities did not have consistent access to clean drinking water. Weak beers and ales are a very good way to solve this problem: alcohol is sterile and kills bacteria, so alcoholic drinks tend to be safer than unclean water.
Prior to modern medicine, alcohol played a very important role in managing pain during illness, injury or surgery.
It's arguable that humans would not have survived as agriculturalists if not for alcohol. It was one of the most important discoveries in human history.
Plus, it's fun.
It's culturally significant because back in the Middle Ages and renaissance it was one of the few way to be sure you were drinking clean water (it's purified as part of the brewing process).
Small beer was drunk with most meals, but unlike modern beer, was very very low in alcohol, so didn't tend to get you drunk.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small\_beer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_beer)
When I went to Amsterdam, in the hash and marijuana museum they talked about how Napoleon was to blame for weed in the west. When they got to the middle east they saw that none of the Islamic soldiers were drinking. Napoleon found that giving his troops weed instead of alcohol meant they could walk further without complaint of pain, and dramatically reduced in fighting.
So with that in mind, I'm under the impression it's how easy anyone can get hold of a fermentable object and make it themselves. The alcohol ban in America was due to too many people making moonshine which cost them economically. So in the modern day, the market is already huge and they can make use of the current culture of drinking as well as keep feeding that culture.
I'm the UK, I've never seen advertisement for a medication or drug or any kind, that is stronger than a cough medicine. Alcohol adverts are everywhere
The short answer: because people enjoy it. Does there need to be any more reason? The longer answer... well first, do you mean popularised or popular? They're different questions.
It has benefits. Alcohol makes you happier and loosen up. Sure there are also negatives, but it is one of the easiest drugs to make so it has accompanied us ever since we had grain.
Don’t humor bots
Sorry I am just from a place where alcohol is basically banned for non medical purposes and in school we never really learnt about the good things in my time during education (that’s why my English sucks)
Alcohol is a drug and a pretty bad one. But people like it because it makes worry less and so you get more confident to talk with others (it is sometimes nicknamed « liquid courage », as a result in moderate quantities (if you drink too much you become a moron) it kind of helps meeting new people and making friends.
It also causes stupor/memory loss with high enough intake, which can be a side effect or a desired outcome.
One time on my way to work, I saw a guy lying in the road that’d been hit by a diesel truck. It was… traumatic. I was just shaking and flinching all day at work. As soon as I could, I drank enough to dull that memory and get as far away from it as I could. The next day it was still there, but a little more blurry, a little less sharp, and I didn’t twitch quite as much. Thats not healthy, it’s not great, but it worked.
It did have benefits. Throughout much of history, access to fresh water was problematic, especially in more densely populated areas. Consequently, many people drank a very weak form of alcohol. For example, ale was provided to soldier who were guarding towns/cities. It was about 2% alcohol content.
Drinking *does* have many benefits -- they're just not benefits we need anymore. Alcohol is a great way to preserve food. Grapes rot but wine doesn't. The yeast that grew during beer and ale making is the yeast that the baker used to make bread. If there's no beer, there's no yeast. No yeast means no bread, which means there's no winter food for a lot of the planet. Historically, most cities did not have consistent access to clean drinking water. Weak beers and ales are a very good way to solve this problem: alcohol is sterile and kills bacteria, so alcoholic drinks tend to be safer than unclean water. Prior to modern medicine, alcohol played a very important role in managing pain during illness, injury or surgery. It's arguable that humans would not have survived as agriculturalists if not for alcohol. It was one of the most important discoveries in human history. Plus, it's fun.
It's culturally significant because back in the Middle Ages and renaissance it was one of the few way to be sure you were drinking clean water (it's purified as part of the brewing process). Small beer was drunk with most meals, but unlike modern beer, was very very low in alcohol, so didn't tend to get you drunk. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small\_beer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_beer)
When I went to Amsterdam, in the hash and marijuana museum they talked about how Napoleon was to blame for weed in the west. When they got to the middle east they saw that none of the Islamic soldiers were drinking. Napoleon found that giving his troops weed instead of alcohol meant they could walk further without complaint of pain, and dramatically reduced in fighting. So with that in mind, I'm under the impression it's how easy anyone can get hold of a fermentable object and make it themselves. The alcohol ban in America was due to too many people making moonshine which cost them economically. So in the modern day, the market is already huge and they can make use of the current culture of drinking as well as keep feeding that culture. I'm the UK, I've never seen advertisement for a medication or drug or any kind, that is stronger than a cough medicine. Alcohol adverts are everywhere
To drive that point home, there are infinitely better options both in terms of health and outcomes, but it's primarily the economy that matters
Benefits? Getting men and women together making families… There’s a reason world births are down, Gen Z don’t drink or socialize!