Earlier this year on that cruise gig I had, we ended up in London for 3 days at the end. While there I read somewhere a "letter to the editor" type thing about Why Do British People Drink So Much (about the sanctuary of their pints) and it was such a well written piece. It detailed how the citizens had been subjected to everything you could think of relegating them to 3rd class status. While expecting them to foot the bill. How their culture had been regulated, how their taxation had been basic slavery, how they drink to escape, how their country and class had basically abandoned them to fend for themselves, and so forth.... it was such a well written piece. I wish I could find it online to post. It basically came down to pubs and pints being the last thing they had to call their own.