It doesn't matter if they are or aren't. They hurt the people around them either way. ALL alcoholics hurt the people who love them with their drinking. Not some, but ALL cause unnecessary pain to others.
I do not see anything offensive about the original post either. I have noticed that it is not uncommon for alcoholics on this site and in this forum (which is supposed to be for friends and families of alcoholics and focus on their pain and issues--the alcoholics have their own forum), but it is not uncommon for alcoholics here to be offended by any posts that do not show them in the politically correct viewpoint that they are the ones who hurt the most and have the biggest challenges.
And it's not uncommon for them to often try to turn the topic around to some version of 'poor me'--just as HollyAnne did. I'm sorry that the natural feelings and conflicts those who deal with alcoholics have make you feel that your recovery is harder. From where I sit, wondering what is wrong with these people that they are so cruel to the people who love them, and why they are such horrible people so often, is a natural consequence of the alcoholics' behavior. If it makes your recovery harder imagine how those who have to deal with your unpleasant alcohol-fueled behavior feel. It makes their LIVES harder, and many victims of alcoholics are in NO WAY responsible for being in the hellish relationships alcoholics create.
But that's just my non politically correct opinion: alcoholics create more hell than feel hell. And if they do feel more hell than they create...they have the power to stop. Few alcoholics will agree with me. But this is a forum for the family and friends of alcoholics and for their issues. My sympathy is not for the alcoholic who creates hell then passes out into alcohol induced oblivion. My sympathy is for the person who had hell unfairly dumped on them, and then laid awake all night next to the snoring alkie, anxious, hurt, feeling desperate and angry.
Flame away...don't care. I have no alkies in my life now, and my life is wonderful.
And back on topic: I think they are sociopathic. It is alcohol induced sociopathy, and many times it will disappear with a real recovery. And alcohol induced sociopathy hurts others just as much as organic sociopathy.