Not so Anonymous Alcoholics

Both the history of Russia, and the United States’s views on alcohol contribute to the stereotype of the Russian people and their “minor” drinking problem. Stereotypes are often unfair and they categorize a group as a whole often by looking at the bad characteristics of some individuals, showing ignorance towards all aspects of the people within that society. Currently Russian embrace drinking, they don’t see many reasons not to; its part of their culture. Citizens love to drink liquor and the Government doesn’t highly regulate sales due to the massive amounts of revenue being generated. Throughout history, alcohol has influenced Russian political, religious, and social doctrines. So many Russian leaders have recognized the problems and deaths of the intense alcoholism in their country, yet Russia always finds a way to come back to its alcoholic roots. In America, it’s hard to understand this aspect of their society, because it hasn’t always been a part of ours. American’s think of alcoholism as a destructive force towards social interaction. Based on the role that alcohol plays in Russian society as well as the history of addiction and death, Americans stereotypically view Russia as a large, destructive, and brutish country filled with alcoholics.

Today, Russians still love to drink, Russia is among the top alcohol consuming countries in the world and it is costing them heavily. From birthdays to funerals, any significant occasion will cause the average Russian to find themselves sharing an alcoholic beverage with their friends, for celebration or mourning. This isn’t a problem for many Russians, they drink responsibly and enjoy themselves whilst doing it. It becomes a problem when people become addicted to the drug and feel th...

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...Russia that the world sees, the stereotype that was rooted in history became a reality in 1993. This view of Russia stems from it’s severe reaction to an anti-alcohol campaign such as Gorbachev’s, and how Russia hasn’t been able to control their heavy binge drinking for over a century.

In the United States, many views on the rest of the world are completely shaped by stereotypes, and the negative view of Russians comes from their alcoholic history and the different roles that alcohol plays in each country. When speaking about alcohol in the U.S., it almost always has a negative connotation. When statistics show that Russians do heavily drink, Alcohol, Russia, and this negative undertone all become associated together and form a stereotype. Between Russian history and pop culture it’s hard to believe that Russia isn’t just a brutish country filled with alcoholics.