According to the as yet uninvented field of study to be known as geoalcoholism, the Western Hemisphere may be divided into a series of horizontal bands, determined by the dominant alcoholic staple for the zone in question and the way that it affects the drinker.
The northernmost band is the 'grain spirit' zone - Scotland, Scandanavia, Finland and the greater part of Russia.
The drinker of grain spirits seeks oblivion, trying to get drunk as quickly as possible, whereupon he tends to keel over. He can be violent and is capable of extravagant excesses that verge upon the poetic and is often seen in the streets on high holidays and other times in a condition of considerable disorder. Although he will drink wine - in fact , he will drink anything - his favorite tipple is hard liquor.... beer is regarded as a chaser.
The hard liquor belt favors writers, journalists, and those who lead active, outdoor lives. It does not suit steady and regular indoor work at repetitive jobs and is the wrong place entirley to look for a willing and able industrial proletariat.
This is to be found in the second zone, which provided the work force for the first Industrial Revolution.
Its staple is beer, and it includes England, northern France, the Low Countries and the Ruhr, while nowadays much beer is also consumed in Japan.
Beer drinkers tend to get bloated rather than drunk, becoming owlish, morose or a little brutal. For those who work in overheated environments such as steel mills, beer is positively beneficial in replacing lost fluids.
The beer belt has been the chief supplier of skilled and semi-skilled laborers ever since the Industrial Revolution.
Below the beer belt comes the wine belt, the culture of southern Europe from the Iberian Peninsula through southern France, Italy, Greece, southern Germany and Austria.
The serious wine drinker seldom becomes drunk - but is rarely sober.... he remains perpetually pickled.
While his liver holds out, he can be a charming companion, a raconteur at his best when at a cafe table holding forth to his friends.
Peasants, small businessmen, traders, civil servants and middlemen flourish in the wine belt. Unless one loves the hard work or the poetry of absolute drunkeness, the wine belt is the most pleasant of the three.
To its south, alcohol ceases altogether and yields to Islam with mint tea, sweetmeats and hashish.
The northernmost band is the 'grain spirit' zone - Scotland, Scandanavia, Finland and the greater part of Russia.
The drinker of grain spirits seeks oblivion, trying to get drunk as quickly as possible, whereupon he tends to keel over. He can be violent and is capable of extravagant excesses that verge upon the poetic and is often seen in the streets on high holidays and other times in a condition of considerable disorder. Although he will drink wine - in fact , he will drink anything - his favorite tipple is hard liquor.... beer is regarded as a chaser.
The hard liquor belt favors writers, journalists, and those who lead active, outdoor lives. It does not suit steady and regular indoor work at repetitive jobs and is the wrong place entirley to look for a willing and able industrial proletariat.
This is to be found in the second zone, which provided the work force for the first Industrial Revolution.
Its staple is beer, and it includes England, northern France, the Low Countries and the Ruhr, while nowadays much beer is also consumed in Japan.
Beer drinkers tend to get bloated rather than drunk, becoming owlish, morose or a little brutal. For those who work in overheated environments such as steel mills, beer is positively beneficial in replacing lost fluids.
The beer belt has been the chief supplier of skilled and semi-skilled laborers ever since the Industrial Revolution.
Below the beer belt comes the wine belt, the culture of southern Europe from the Iberian Peninsula through southern France, Italy, Greece, southern Germany and Austria.
The serious wine drinker seldom becomes drunk - but is rarely sober.... he remains perpetually pickled.
While his liver holds out, he can be a charming companion, a raconteur at his best when at a cafe table holding forth to his friends.
Peasants, small businessmen, traders, civil servants and middlemen flourish in the wine belt. Unless one loves the hard work or the poetry of absolute drunkeness, the wine belt is the most pleasant of the three.
To its south, alcohol ceases altogether and yields to Islam with mint tea, sweetmeats and hashish.
