Imperial Expansion and the Thirst of America's Youth

Empires and young people, two seemingly unrelated subjects tied together by one common attribute: greed. In an imperial sense, land drives nations wild, causing them to send armies into neighboring countries. But what is it that young people particularly thirst for? Money? Fame? Romantic relationships? While all three of those possibilities are relevant, alcohol is one of the most glorified and sought after substances in today's society.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "more than 90%" of the alcohol consumed by people under the age of 21 is done so "in the form of binge drinking," a striking contrast to the average adult amount of 17% (Washington Post). However, it is likely that most teenagers are not drinking because they enjoy alcohol but because they believe they are expected to drink when in its presence. Young people have been made to believe that alcohol consumption correlates to one's social standing, a notion created by alcohol's portrayal in various forms of media like music and television that influences people's behavior without them even necessarily realizing it.

This same type of subliminal influencing is performed by empires in order to persuade their subjects to accept their dominion over them. Caesar Augustus achieved this through the Pax Romana, Roman Peace, during which Rome experienced immense military, social, and economic success (Zissos, Lecture 2). The existence of an expansive road system, stable economy, and public recreational facilities helped to create a sense of consent across the empire, influencing even the people of newly conquered territories to accept their new ruler. The Inca also constructed a sense of consent through their empire by having married men, otherwise known as mitas, work for a certain amount of days to construct things like communal storehouses and road systems for the benefit of the empire. While this labor was mandatory, the mitas did not object to it because they believed that the compensation they would receive, enough food to feed them and their families, would far surpass anything the Inca had them endure (O'Toole, Lecture 1).

While young people are choosing to drink on their own, they, unlike the Romans and Inca, are not guaranteed to receive the social compensation they believe they will receive. It is a means of manipulation that is destructive when unrealized and does nothing but make liquor companies richer, a stark contrast to the mutual benefit seen in empires as a result of participation in response to an ideal.

SOURCES

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https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/underage-drinking.htm

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/11/25/the-state-of-binge-drinking-in-the-united-states-in-seven-simple-charts/?utm_term=.c65bede8e995

https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/MakeADiff_HTML/makediff.htm#Talkingwith