Binge drinking is dumb. I thought this statement was pretty self-explanatory, in a way.

But according to Time magazine, that’s not the case. A recent article discussed a study conducted on Northeastern college students. Apparently, collegiate binge drinkers are happier, and the drinking is also associated with higher status – the technical term for badassery.

An interesting find in the study was that the happiest students with the highest status were financially-secure white males.

If I were to interpret this data, my response would be, “Duh.” Of course rich, white men who binge drink reported being happier and having higher status – they have enough money to get incredibly drunk, and enough unimportant time to be hungover the next day.

In addition, I think it could be assumed that they have less concern when it comes to getting raped, assaulted or even arrested.

Now that there is evidence to support a relationship between idiotic drinking and how much it is valued by this patriarchal, white-dominated society, I most certainly hope that the rest of us – the minorities, women, and dirt-poor – can help rebuild the value system of collegiate culture.

Just imagine – a college where you don’t have to blow your paycheck to be cool. A place where you are not judged by the number of times you’ve thrown up, but by the content of your character. And it’s all totally possible…if we all just stop being dumb.

And while I don’t think there is anything wrong with drinking, and I don’t think every person who has blacked out is a moron, I still feel like it has been taken too far.

Call me crazy, but I don’t think that having fun, being happy, and one’s level of badassery should, in any way, depend on how much one drinks.

Perhaps one day getting black out drunk can be downgraded from being “cool” to being “OK.” Maybe one day, being dumb will be called “being dumb.”