But I know from experience that if someone is outspoken about being "sober", nine times out of ten they actually mean "I am a fundamentally unadventurous person and/or holding on to some crazy demons that will definitely come out the moment I crack the two pint mark".
Teetotalers are like the new vegans. The same old joke applies. 'How do you know someone doesn't drink? Don't worry, they'll tell you'. I think that a lot of things like this are becoming more popular because the digital panopticon has hammered any actual, organic personality out of so much of Gen Z that they have to artificially assemble a personality like a build-a-bear. Not drinking, not smoking, being vegan, not eating gluten, all of these little things are lifestyle modules that you can pick up off TikTok or instagram and add to your 'personal brand'. I think that not drinking is a popular one for several reasons.
1. Older generations like Millenials have become unbelievably cringe about alcohol, and their fascination with the 'new' or 'unheard of' means that their cringe, narcissistic approach to alcohol consumption constantly breaches containment and infects any new 'niche' alcohol scene that might foster a Gen Z identity. The whole self-conscious, pretentious way that my generation interacts with alcohol is severely off-putting - alcohol is fun when people can freely explore, loosen up, and most importantly use it as a way to make life a little more enjoyable. Thinking that spending $99 on corporate slop brands that sell mediocre wine for 'sophisticated people' makes you a 'good drinker' who has the right to sneer, is just cringe.
2. There has been a concerted lobbying effort to demonize alcohol on the health front that has been focused heavily on Gen Z. Decades of research shows basically what is known as the J Curve - moderate to light alcohol reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke, and so is
good for you on balance. Every Blue Zone in the world features moderate alcohol consumption as a part of the local culture. A couple years ago the Lancet published a study linking any alcohol consumption to cancer, which lead to a bunch of newspaper articles being written that spun this wildly out of proportion. I specifically remember one cunt at the NYT quoting that research saying that alcohol was dangerous "from the first drop", a phrase which was never used by any researcher associated with the studies in question. It lead to a failed attempt in Canada to reduce the daily recommended drinks, and a current attempt in the US to do the same that freeze out actual experts in the field. Many of the scientists who push this are associated with Movendi International, a lobbying group which is a rebranding of The International Organisation of Good Templars. This is essentially a bizarre masonic cult that heavily drove the first disastrous Prohibition movement in the US a century ago and is funding such studies and a key group of loyal scientists to seek to slowly demonize alcohol consumption once again.
3. There are life-shattering costs to being recorded doing something stupid. When I was growing up, if someone brought a video camera to a party they would be regarded as a weird loser at best and a shitty narc at worst. It's the sort of thing that would have sever social ramifications, so there was this space to be yourself and feel free that what happened would be relegated only to human memory with no hard proof. This gave people an opportunity to cut loose, drink, and have a good time with little worries. This is world that Gen Z has never experienced. Every retard has a tiny camcorder in their pocket, and a plurality of people in that generation dream of going viral on some shithole social media site so that they can become another braindead influencer. In this environment, alcohol is a dangerous liability, and drugs like weed that turn everyone into a boring moron are more popular.
