In Vino Veritas

Anyone walking through Trastevere on a Friday evening will be forced to endure a ruckus. Students from John Cabot´s American University spill out of bars with glasses and bottles in hand, filling the ancient streets with a noisy, stumbling crowd. The stylish mess of drunkenness tumbling through the ancient neighborhood -- the wealthy elitism, the refusal to learn the language, the sense of entitlement, the unrestrained liberation -- paints a picture of America that is not accurate, but nevertheless is a reaction to something truly present in American culture: the Puritan ideology upon with the country was founded. And these Puritanical roots affected -- among other things -- the way in which Americans view the culture of alcohol.

Although most of the States in the US have relaxed their attitude towards alcohol in that very few places consider it to be the ¨demon liquor¨ (the south still retains remnants of this Puritan attitude), the laws that are in place are strict but misleading; the legal drinking age of 21 is so strictly enforced that if an estrablishment forgets to ask for the ID of anyone who looks under the age of 30, they can be thrown in prison. Drinking is seen as something which the government and Fundamentalist Christians seek to restrict. To drink at all -- especially if underage -- is seen as rebellious. As a result, young adults who have had restrictions imposed on them without having been taught temperance come to Rome, and the result is the drunken feast that one too regularly witnesses on the streets of Rome.

In contrast to the repressed drinking culture of the States that promotes unrestraint and irresponsibility, is the drinking culture of Italy. During an Italian meal, for instance, the wine will flow quite liberally -- yet, the result is a relaxed appreciation for the food and company. One can not only comfortably go to a wine bar alone without appearing to be an alcoholic, but an hour can pass with a good book before the first glass is finished; and after that first glass, one feels more than content. Italian culture lends itself to moderate drinking because wine is recognized as an intrinsic good, and with this recognition, moderation naturally follows.

The contrast between Italian and American cultures in regards to drinking is more than an issue of law and ideology. It offers a small insight into what the effect can be when something that is intrinsically neutral -- even intrinsically good -- is overly restricted by the culture. In America, wine is seen as something that is enjoyable but not intrinsically good; therefore, the result is rebellion that does not understand the value of moderation when applied to a good thing. In Italy, on the other hand, moderation comes naturally, for it is understood that wine is intrinsically good. And its quite a Catholic idea, really: how could any culture that believes in Transubstantiation not believe that wine is a good thing?