this post was submitted on 08 May 2024
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Coffee, Tea, and caffeinated beverages have been a double edged sword to humans, and specifically human society, since its discovery.
Michael Pollan authored a book on the subject a while back. Here is an article which summarizes some of it.
Ultimately, Capitalism as we know it today would not have been possible without stimulants (like caffeine) and the invention of the lightbulb. These two factors allowed human beings to remain awake and alert 24/7, vastly expanding the time window for us to consume and produce, and ultimately further solidify Capitalism's hold on the world at large.
Stimulants are also the reason WWII was so insane. A lot of it (and postwar actions) are thrown in a very different light once you realise everyone was on meth
They are why the Nazis were able to easily take most of Europe, one binge and it was over. And also why they faltered in Russia after starting out very well, because it was too much to take on one binge and they had to keep fighting during and then after the recovery period.
Yeah, you must listen to Hamilton Morris's Podcast! It's a fascinating story and an example of one of the many roles stimulants have played in human history and society.
As a coffee addict and enthusiast myself (used to home roast High grade Arabica when I had more time on my hands), I'm not going to knock stimulants outright.
But it's not lost on me that we wouldn't have a 24 hour economy without caffeine and electric lights, which block the uptake of adenosine and production of melatonin respectively, creating the biochemical response necessary for our civilization to exist as it currently does, for better and worse.
Now I want to see an apocalypse story where stimulants suddenly and inexplicably stop working, and civilization as we know it comes to a crashing halt, or more likely a staggering and increasingly groggy stumble down into a nap.
This article from the guardian indicates the need to develop and produce synthetic coffee in the future after climate change has ravaged land reserved for coffee production.
Honestly while coffee's days are likely numbered, stimulants will likely only be further developed in the lab to be more finely honed to enhance potential human productivity levels and, hopefully, be made safer for human consumption.
Stimulants are necessary particularly to modern militaries and the usage of stimulants in a wartime context have been well documented since WWII.
Given the important role stimulants play in both modern capitalism and modern warfare, it's unlikely we'll see a "Stimulopocalypse" any time soon.
That said, the world you allude to might look somewhat like the world awakened by the Knocker-Up, although really it's more likely all aspects of human life would simply slow down without stimulants.