Marx famously said that ‘Drink is the curse of the working class’, and whilst I would have never fully agree with that, now I have stopped drinking for a month, I realise how much alcohol is engrained into every fabric of society. Whilst every good plan has usually come from an enlightened moment in the pub, it rarely tends to move on from just that.  Every since I have been 17, Friday night is a night for going out, meeting up with everybody and catching up, drunkenness was simply a consequence of drinking too much but was never the actual aim. It can break down social awkwardness, make you laugh, make you cry and also make you fight.

Whilst pub culture is dying – being taken over by fucking wanky gastro pubs or wine bars, it is the bonding between pub regulars that you never found elsewhere; everywhere I have lived I have made some great friends through the pub (and now the club), they can be the community centres of an area. Workingmens clubs are the real last bastion of working class life, cheap drinks, entertainment, children welcome and no fucking smug rich people.

On the flip side drink is the great solver of all problems (in the short term) anyway, and can be a wonderful escape from the pressures of everyday life – but does this just equate to acceptance. A subconscious understanding that that’s you lot, and there is nothing you can do about it. The next day then becomes depressing, everything you tried to escape is still there – nothing has changed apart from your bank balance.

This is what Marx was getting at – acceptance. Not just acceptance of your own circumstances but acceptance of society, no matter how wrong it is. My view is now bar staff should have pitch forks and burning torches behind the bar, so when you have had enough to drink, no one accepts but goes and chase whatever Frankenstein out from their society.