The History Channel shows this program every now and again. Very interesting. It seems a few centuries ago, there wasn't much to drink outside of beer. The water in cities and towns was too polluted, most beverages spoiled quickly. So everyone drank beer. The alcohol kept it safe.
We never were much for tea, but we fell in love with coffee. The boiling necessary for brewing killed off the bacteria in the water, the taste was exotic and bitter, something to be aquired... but the mind quickly associated that smell and taste with the stimulation of caffeine. Coffee became America's drink. Instead of drinking beer at 9am and again at lunch and then at dinner and after, we began to substitute coffee.
The timeframe for that substitution and the beginnings of the industrial revolution are believed to not be coincidence. 2000 years ago in Arabia, the stimulants in coffee fueled an revolution in art, mathematics, writing, and nearly every other intellectual pursuit not prohibited by the rulers. They would hang out in coffe shops and talk for hours. Caffeine livened the mind and quickened the imagination and intellect. Ideas and action.
150 years ago, America was not much for coffee shops. It was a diner on the way to work or some Joe Restaurant. Maybe a pot at the office or worksight. We didn't sit and talk, we got busy and built. (This difference will be key for later correlations) Our bodies were stimulated, driven. And we got busy and built this country.
The above is all per The History of Coffee, The History Channel. The following are some additional correlations I've noted.
At some time, we DID become interested in coffee shops and hanging out discussing, chatting, observing. And another revolution was fueled. This time it was an intellectual revolution (as with Arabia 2000 years ago). They gathered in tents and we have Starbucks. Computer programmers lived on caffeinated soda in the years of the tech boom. It is no coincidence Starbucks and similars sprouted during that time (look at where SB started).
This happened over and over again. A stimulated mind and a stimulated body, humanity at it's best.
Today, on the front page of the IBD:
"Many analysts spent much of this year betting shoppers would fold under the pressure of slowing growth... the odd thing is, consumers don't seem to agree... investors don't seem to agree either."
"So whats keeping consumers going in the face of adversity?"
Everybody wants to know. Just what is keeping them GOING?
Could it be this huge growth in mega stimulant energy drinks? Hmm... It happened before several times.
Caffeine increases dopamine levels in the same way that amphetamines do. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that, in certain parts of the brain, activates "reward pathways" (i.e. the pleasure center). In other words, caffeine makes us feel GOOD, optimistic, happy, energetic, alert, imaginative, etc.
All of these individual things combine into an explanation for what has happened recently, for what confuses so many of the analysts. It is only one of many possible explanations, but we lend it quite a bit of weight... too many coincidences and more than a few facts that all point in the right direction.
And then there is what is next.
We've had the coffee shop revolution already. It is time for a re-emergence of the industrial revolution. Who is drinking these energy drinks? White collar goes to Starbucks. So its blue collar and below. Coffee shop versus diner crowd. Coffee shops produce intellectual advancements. Diners produce industrial advancements. All of them buy plasma televisions, and when they're hopped up and optimistic about everything, they certainly do. And they buy anything else they want too. All that extra energy, third job is no problem.
Drink up, America! Monster does the body good.
They are travelling more than ever. They are buying more than ever. And it is the beginning of the trend. A chance to buy US Steel before the foundation is poured. Union Pacific before the transcontinental line.
Just saying...
Cheers.