As I always say alcoholism has two components.
A physical allergy to alcohol and an obsession to drink it.
Mankind will probably go on for many generations eating strawberries. Some people are either born with or develop allergies to strawberries. Most of them will not eat strawberries. They don't go to meetings, they don't get rattled if offered a strawberry short cake, they just don't eat strawberries.
When I start drinking something happens to me physically and i can not control how much i will drink or how i will behave. More often then not in the old days drinking seemed to work out in my favor. Then the allergy got worse. It use to be worth a hive or two for delicious fresh strawberries. Then they lost their flavor and a few hives turned into more serious symptoms. (Thats just an example im not allergic to anything other then alcohol, maybe children)
That first night that i threw up from drinking as a 14 year old was great. I bounced back up the next morning and I couldn't believe the magic that I had experienced. I could finally deal with people. I could be comfortable in my own skin, in my own head. I had found a sense of peace that had escaped me for most of my short little life up to that point. I didn't know that I just received an obsession to drink that would control many of my decisions for decades to come. Or to borrow a little from the big book, it would come back like a boomerang and cut me to ribbons.
Alcohol will most likely be part of western culture for many more generations. So will strawberries and peanuts and shell fish. Those foods are fine for most people but some have to stay away.