Being around other drunk people while not drunk is a fucking death sentence. My mom would go on and tell her friends that I'm a shut-in while drinking.
Drinking is honestly just an admission life is shit
You drink to alter your perception, and not in an artistic way
AKA
people only drink because reality/their lives are fucking shit and they need to fundamentally alter their brain to cope
The fact that it's so prevalent shows that there's something about the world that needs to be fixed