I know you guys don't want to enter the chat about alcohol making people more violent. Alcohol lowers inhibitions (things like social considerations and norms), and what you normally wouldn't do sober, you are likely to do when drunk.

Not everyone has the same reaction to alcohol. But it does alter the probability stats. Alcohol is a depressant, which means that, amongst other things, it slows down certain brain functions.

One of the key areas it affects in the brain is the prefrontal cortex. That's the part of the brain that deals with higher level reasoning. Alcohol dribbles that area of the brain. It's one of the first areas that get hit by alcohol.

That's why you usually feel the affects of alcohol after the first two drinks. Your motor cortex doesn't get affected as quickly, which is why ungetherezeli after the first two drinks. That part of the brain doesn't get hit as quickly.

However, you feel the effects of alcohol in your first two drinks because your prefrontal cortex has lowered your inhibitions. You feel lighter. The world feels softer. You're not as anxious. The music goes in. The crowd is wonderful. Capitalism doesn't suck.

Then you move past the first two drinks. You take shots. You mix your drinks. Sometimes you're adding other drugs to that mix. You're overloading your brain with substances that take away your inhibitions.

Inhibitions which would, under normal circumstances, stop you from acting a fool. At this point, your motor cortex is affected. Your movements are slower and less coordinated. Your speech is slurred. Your judgement and reasoning? Out the window.

Suddenly the fight you would have ignored under sober circumstances feels like a good idea. I say "feel" because you're no longer thinking, you're driven by emotions which feel overwhelming at the time. You're not reasoning, you're just feeling.
Drunk dials also happen here.

You start fights you shouldn't fight. You engage in risky sexual behavior. You drunk dial an ain't-shit ex. You send a risky text. Alcohol gives you unsubstantiated courage. Your prefrontal cortex is shot. Awukhuzeki. You think you can drive with your compromised motor skills.

South Africans don't know how to have a nice time with alcohol. We are a substance dependant society.
Substance dependant society + deadly, rapidly spreading virus = lekaka esikuyo ngoku.

I need us to be honest about our dependence on alcohol. We are not responsible drinkers.

And I'm going to have this conversation until I'm blue in my Black face.
I'm not claiming to be a responsible drinker, plz.

But I will not deny that we're a people that rely on alcohol to feel good about ourselves, our lives and that, too often, alcohol is the common denominator in many of our collective and individual acts of violence.

Til my Black face is blue, wethu https://twitter.com/_knotyourfrend_/status/1267497504255475717?s=19