The Relationship Between Industrialization and Alcohol use and how it's Affecting Generations Today

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The relationship between industrialization and alcohol use and how it's affecting generations today
Introduction
Alcoholism has tremendous adverse effects on the drinker, society and economy of a country. The disadvantages of alcohol use over its advantages to the society, economy and country are varied depending on personal opinions but its relationship with industrialization is apparent. The adverse effects of alcohol have prompted some countries to pass laws that restrict consumption of alcohol completely while some have welcomed the advantages of alcohol industry such as huge revenue from alcohol firms and distributors, employment among others and provided favorable economic conditions for alcohol producing firms to thrive.
Alcohol use has also been on the spotlight on its impact on the youth with many proponents advocating for more stringent policies to discourage its use among the youth. According to empirical research, alcohol use among the millennials has been on the rise CITATION Var14 \l 1033 (Konstam), and it is important for the society and the government to control its consumption. In this article, the different types of relationships between alcohol and industrialization have been critically discussed and how it has affected the American millennial generation.
The relationship between industrialization and alcohol use
The total number of American industries consist of a fair share of alcohol producing firms. America has more than one thousand registered beer manufacturers alongside other imported alcohol products CITATION Dav13 \l 1033 (Fahey and Miller). This makes the country a potential market to manufacturers to tap into the profits of running an alcohol business. Alcohol, therefore, becomes one of the main industry in the economy of the country. The alcohol firms have also franchised their businesses to other countries or exported their produce to them, therefore, cementing their sustainability in the foreseeable future. The country's GDP has a significant share of alcohol industry directly and indirectly. Therefore, the contribution of alcohol to industrialization in America is undeniable, and though it has had many adverse effects, the American economy has a significant dependence on the alcohol industry.
The alcohol industry has led to establishment and growth of other industries which add up to the national grid of industries. There are some industries who depend on products made from alcohol though they do not produce the alcohol for human consumption. Such industries include body spray producers, alcohol disinfectants among others. Other firms like bottling companies and advertising industry rely heavily on alcohol producers to be their clients in their business. Some other companies that have a significant dependence on alcohol-related production and consumption like transport companies also benefit greatly from the industry. Consequently, the industries mentioned above have a mutual relationship with alcohol companies, and their sustainability is relatively depended on alcohol production.
Though alcohol business has led to more industrialization, it has had an adversative effect on it especially through labor market CITATION Iza15 \l 1033 (Schultz and Gatchel). Alcohol abuse has led to the loss of many lives through irresponsible drunk driving or any other alcohol related accidents of operating machinery. Every time a skilled person dies or is permanently disabled such that he/she cannot perform up to expected standards due to the extent of their injuries through alcohol related accidents or abuse, the labor market if adversely affected.
Many industries and companies have lost employees due to alcohol, and that hampers their production. Labour is a primary resource in production and if affected by alcohol, industrialization development is hampered and the economy at large. The alcohol related accidents and impaired judgment have cost many industries huge losses too. Some have led to a break of fires while some production of sub-standards goods. The aforementioned factors are some of the many things that have slowed down production and economic growth.
Work performance of an intoxicated employee through alcohol use or misuse is relatively low compared to the work performance of sober employees. Alcohol mainly affects the brain and the central nervous system thus impairing the judgments made by the person thus lowering performance and productivity. Since alcohol leads to a slower response to stimuli, if an employee is intoxicated then his/her response to stimuli and environment is slow and therefore if the job requires prompt and sharp focus as in the case in the transport industry, the employee is likely to make catastrophic decisions. Therefore, ensuring high productivity and excellent work performance from employees without a watertight mechanism to prevent alcoholism in the workplace has been a challenge to industrialization.
The alcohol industry has also benefitted positively from the other industries. Technologically advanced practices pioneered by other industries have increased the alcohol industry marginal profits and consumption. For instance, technological advancement of the internet and social networking has formed a platform for the alcohol industry to market their products and reach a wider and more diverse audience. The Internet has also become a platform for the alcohol industry to organize events aimed at promoting alcohol consumption. The old antiquated systems of alcohol production have also been replaced with modern brewing mechanisms and machinery for better quality products and production on a larger scale.
On the other hand, alcoholism which is directly related to alcohol production and consumption has spurred innovation in other industries to invent custom made products for alcohol users. Some of the innovations are self-driving cars and other mechanisms to prevent intoxicated people from operating machinery. The motivation behind most firms opting for automated production is to avoid alcohol-related problems in the workplace. For example, devices to detect whether a person is drunk...