Der er tidligere skrevet om Walmart og McDonalds, så for variationens skyld er det på tide at hylde endnu en multinational virksomhed, af de mange (herunder danske Dynelarsen), der har forbedret frie menneskers købekraft - i dette tilfælde Starbucks:

The coffee house isn't a new idea. It grew during the 18th century, as a philosophic spirit took root in Enlightenment civilization. In Paris, London, and Amsterdam, the cafe served much the same purpose as it does today. To quote The Economist, "the coffee-houses that began to appear in European cities...were adorned with bookshelves, mirrors, gilt-framed pictures and good furniture, in contrast to the rowdiness, gloom and squalor of taverns." The Enlightenment middle class explicitly viewed coffee as a brain-stimulating alternative to liquor's dulling effects. Merchants frequented coffee houses for news of their trade, authors read and discussed their work with coffeehouse critics, revolutionaries traded pamphlets and scientists demonstrated experiments to onlookers. Whatever your area of concern, if you were interested in the exchange of ideas, the coffee house was your social center.

So it is today--Americanized. Starbucks and its competitors have taken the European coffee shop model and brought it to middle America. Starbucks' brilliant new retailing concept has taken the life of the mind and marketed it to the average American consumer. The forest-green mermaid has recognized that coffee fulfills a particular human need--the need to stay fully aware. She has developed a marketing scheme that consistently serves that need, through more than just the product it sells, and has created an entire coffee-culture that implicitly glorifies the mind. Scores of independent coffee shops have picked up the trend. It's a pleasing spectacle, a great place to study, and the perfect first date.

- Det skriver Rebecca Knapp i Coffee Culture: How to Celebrate the Human Mind i Internetmagasinet the Undercurrent.

Navnet Starbuck er taget fra Herman Melvilles roman Moby Dick:

Starbuck contrasts with Ahab [skibets Kaptajn] in his spirit and manner. Where Ahab is bombastic, outrageous, and monomaniac, Starbuck is prudent, calm, and reasonable. But he lacks Ahab’s power. The chief mate argues that the ship’s mission, as prescribed by the owners, is to harvest as much whale oil as possible and return home safely, showing a profit. He feels it is “blasphemous” to be enraged by a dumb object of nature such as a whale, and he realizes that the lives of all aboard are at serious risk. Fra Cliffnotes.

Mere om Starbucks og Howard Schultz.

Se også the Boston Tea Party.

Et væld af entreprører, opfindere og/eller driftige forretningsfolk findes i øvrigt i:

Interview: Andrew Bernstein discusses his book: The Capitalist Manifesto

Et kortere manifest: The Bernstein Declaration. (dansk tekst).