That said, yes, I know driving drunk is stupid but well... I'm entitled to being stupid occasionally and will pay the consequences if my stupidity harms me or anyone else.
Thought a bit about this. Thing is, depending on where you do it, you can easily pay consequences even if what you do does not harm you or anyone else. In this particular context, limits are extremely low and Courts are very intolerant of it in some parts of Europe. They often go out of their way to dish out severe and arguably wildly disproportionate penalties even if you marginally fail breath or other tests, which could happen all too easily. It is a punishment for taking risks which are judged to increase the likelihood of harming others whether or not any such harm is caused.
Do think very carefully, know and understand the risks, and be aware of what you're in for if you do get held to account. This can and does extend to prison time. Simplest way of being sure is to carry a self-test kit - which is obligatory in France now. In the days I used to travel there frequently, there was an extremely high incidence of drink driving, and rural areas in particular were undeniably a very hazardous place to be on the roads. At the time I simply took that as being part of the 'deal' with a choice not to go if you didn't want to drive / be driven (or to take extreme care if you did, especially at night or after lunch !).
As I said above I have never viewed this as something to be taken lightly. If they looked into it carefully, many people would view the potential consequences as far outweighing what they might gain from the convenience and opportunity. That all depends on the person. I have lived for many years in countries with no prohibitive laws where alcohol and driving are concerned. Amidst such wild inconsistency over time in single countries and between different countries at a point in time it is often tempting to set boundaries which fit your own parameters, especially when you frequent different parts of the world.
However, there is a persuasive argument for respecting the prevailing laws of the country you are in, if you wish to remain immune from judicial and public sanction. Should you attract such sanction, for whatever reason, then after the event very few will be interested in hearing about reasons or justification and will judge you summarily. This is basic human nature. Your fellow human beings on the whole judge others by the yardsticks they are told to (however inconsistent over time) and my experience over the years is that the norm seems to be for people to seek reasons to judge others.
All that said, I am a firm believer that a person's life path is theirs and theirs alone to find their way through. Try as I may have done in the past, I am wholly unable to judge the decisions or actions of others. I do have a benign but strong interest in the underlying reasons for peoples' actions, the way they manage consequences and the way in which they (hopefully) evolve positively as a result. I have a similar interest in both myself and in how people manage misfortune or injustice (whether at the hands of others or the operation of 'fate'). That may sound a somewhat detached view of the world, but it is one which I believe to be inherently sound, and far more enlightening than the path of judgement.
For my own part, I make no attempt to justify my actions, nor do I have any regrets. I do, however, think carefully and regularly about the choices I make and sometimes such self-examination leads naturally to change. In the end what matters most, if you choose to take risky paths, is that you are willing to take full responsibility for your actions and any consequences, and that you shield others around you from negative fallout as far as is possible should something go wrong.
As light is the corollary to dark, all self-indulgence must be repaid by sacrifice for others and all harm must be mitigated with commensurate good. However, sacrifice for others does not buy a right to self-indulgence and all good does not justify harm. It does seem that this is the natural way of things.... in short there is
always a price to be paid
(There's a good Independent article on it if ya Google.)
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