The Drinker's Manifesto

Book excerpt: Nearly every negative consequence associated with alcohol is the result of drinking too much. In today's culture, drinking to excess is glamorized as a fun, harmless, and required rite of passage. Particularly for college students, it's a social norm created by peer pressure emphasizing that you're not cool unless you drink--a lot. However, a dangerous learning curve exists that has the propensity to go from bad to worse if we don't consider what's at stake. If we can educate people to drink better and live healthier then all of those disastrous experiences go away. The Drinker's Manifesto is an honest, approachable conversation at eye-level with college-age novice drinkers, binge-drinkers, and non-drinkers about what a healthier relationship with alcohol looks like. Started by a group of friends sharing their stories about their experiences with alcohol, Better Drinking Culture (BDC) has grown into a social impact grassroots movement that is shifting our culture's relationship with alcohol in a healthier and more positive direction--a lifestyle free from pain, harm, and regret. Because hangovers suck. This book is an easily digestible, practical guide to mindful drinking and moderation. Divided into three main parts, it includes perspectives on how alcohol affects our health and relationships, teaches the basics about how to make informed choices about choosing to drink, and encourages personal accountability in taking care of ourselves, our loved ones, and where we live, work, and play. BDC believes that alcohol should be a choice--not an expectation. Regardless of where you are in your journey with alcohol, this is an invitation to anyone who reads it to put their health, safety, and well-being first. Should one choose to drink or be in the company of friends who do, The Drinker's Manifesto empowers people to make better decisions because life is too short to forget or regret what happened last night. The current generation has the influence to set a better example for the next one. No longer can we avoid the uncomfortable discourse that something needs to change about our drinking culture. The Drinker's Manifesto is that conversation--one that calls out the absurdity of a culture that glamorizes over-consumption and instead replaces it with ownership in answering for ourselves. For students, parents, universities, communities, public health, and the alcohol industry, The Drinker's Manifesto is a call to challenge our culture and inspire change.