Utilitarianism is the anglosphere’s way of justifying their unhappiness to themselves. Take alcohol, which for years was split into three simple groups — spirits (strong), wines (moderate), and beer (weak). Nowadays the thing that matters to drinkers is the percentage of alcohol — Stella have even developed a lager whose name is the percentage (Vier) in a paradoxical bid to wean drinkers from high-strength “wife beater”.
The alcohol content of wine has also rocketed — from 12% fifteen years ago to around 14.5% now. This may seem a trifling matter, but it illustrates way in which people have come to associate enjoyment with inebriation. The higher the alcohol content, the quicker people get drunk. The problem is that drunkenness doesn’t equal fun. It is quite possible for people to drink nothing at all and still have a really good time.
This utilitarian approach to enjoyment can also be seen in other areas. Supermarkets have begun to fetishize the fat and calorie content of their products. Coke and Pepsi battle with each other to see who can produce the drink with the least nutritional value. Smoothies compete in their absurd thickness. Cameras are sold on the numbers of megapixels. It is absurd.
The obsession with numbers is one of the reasons that people can’t enjoy themselves without alcohol. It is a tragedy that drunkenness has become the central purpose of going out. Far better to be in the moment rather than concern yourself with your future state.
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‘Nutritionalism’, or if we’re going to be really derogatory, ‘big number fascination’. The same applies to a whole range of cosmetics who combine ‘6 advantages in 1′, among other such too-good-to-be-true pseudo-science wonders.
The statistics all over the food are worse than the Sun-headline-style emotional harassment on cigarette packs, but in turn neither of these are as terrifying as the tragic disappearance of < 12% wine — stuff you could drink in the garden with friends without fear of getting drunk after two meager glasses. The nation’s alcoholism is a separate issue if you ask me.