There's another aspect too. France is supposedly a Catholic country. Catholics can drink . . . and do so with abandon! The US was settled by a LOT of Protestant denominations that do not permit alcoholic drinks. Many of them have loosened up over the years, but there is still a prohibition of alcohol in most (if not all) fundamentalist churches. Baptists and Methodists are pretty mainstream and even they still tout the idea of abstinence from alcohol. Keep in mind that Methodists use grape juice for communion.
Obviously, many of these people drink, but they do it somewhat secretly. Perhaps because of this, many kids (and older people) think it's true freedom to go out and get totally drunk every weekend. Many Americans simply drink to get drunk. They don't care what the stuff tastes like and the cheaper the better. Strange attitude that you don't see often in Europe although there certainly are drinking problems there too. It is, after all, addictive and requires a certain self control. Many Americans are not seriously into self control either!
A lot of our inhibitions refer back to our Protestant heritage. There is an old joke about a hotel bartender who says, "We do quite well when we have Episcopalian and Catholic conventions here because they drink quite a bit. The Lutherans are pretty good too but we love the Baptists." Reply: "How is that, the Baptists don't drink?" Bartender: "You have to serve it under the table, but they sure do outdrink the others!"
Obviously, many of these people drink, but they do it somewhat secretly. Perhaps because of this, many kids (and older people) think it's true freedom to go out and get totally drunk every weekend. Many Americans simply drink to get drunk. They don't care what the stuff tastes like and the cheaper the better. Strange attitude that you don't see often in Europe although there certainly are drinking problems there too. It is, after all, addictive and requires a certain self control. Many Americans are not seriously into self control either!
A lot of our inhibitions refer back to our Protestant heritage. There is an old joke about a hotel bartender who says, "We do quite well when we have Episcopalian and Catholic conventions here because they drink quite a bit. The Lutherans are pretty good too but we love the Baptists." Reply: "How is that, the Baptists don't drink?" Bartender: "You have to serve it under the table, but they sure do outdrink the others!"