Raising Awareness of the Problems with Generalizing a Race of People

A Few Interesting Statistics:

As of 2002, Russians are the world’s leaders in alcohol consumption. The average Russian male drinks about four gallons of pure alcohol per year, which amounts to about a pint of vodka every other day. To put it in perspective, this is nearly twice what Americans consume.

As a result of this pernicious habit, the average Russian male is expected to live only 57 years. This means many Russian citizens will die of alcoholism even before they retire. While many observers hint that the problem is growing the numbers are much more blatant: the number of deaths resulting from intoxication in January – May 2002 increased by 8.1% over the figures of January – May 2001. This problem can only get worse as Russians face even more instability in their lives. The general consensus among Russians is that alcoholism is (and has always been) Russia’s biggest problem.

In June , 2007 a study was released that indicated, drinking alcohol not meant for consumption, such as that found in cologne and antiseptics, may be responsible for nearly half of all deaths among working-age men in Russia.

Scientists limited their research to the Russian city of Izhevsk but believes it represents many areas of Russia. The research suggested that despite Russia's economic resurgence in the past decade, it still faces staggering social and health problems, especially in provincial areas far from Moscow and St. Petersburg. The scientists concluded that 43 per cent of deaths amongst Russian men were caused by hazardous drinking.

Price and accessibility are major factors in the popularity of drinking cologne and other "surrogate" alcohols. They cost a fraction of what vodka costs, and are available in the kiosks and pharmacies on Russian streets.

So based on this story….we could generalize and blame the ails of Russia on the men in the community …because based on what someone might have seen…80% of Russian men who live outside of Moscow and St. Petersburg are staggering around – smelling good and dieing early and that is causing the social ails of a country. Maybe if they ban cologne and surrogate alcohols it will keep men alive and working to support their families instead of being the countries social problem.

We won’t look at any of the other environmental, social or political issues that the country faces – just drunks.

The idea of marginalizing and profiling a culture based on a few who practice social ails is ridiculous. I am sure that there are many individuals in Russia who do not spend their days laying around being drunks. Racial profiling is not beneficial to anyone that is a victim of it.