Hooked on a feeling : The loss of community and rise of addiction
The class divide over the stimulant of choice: either to promote production or to inhibit escape, only furthered a sense of class camaraderie: a distinction that Engels and fellow socialists would ironically grasp onto. Liquor became the target of socialists while beer became their unifier for the working class.
For an industrializing world, coffee fit the bill perfectly. Despite religious groups early ban on coffee… its role in increasing production placed it front and center in the Industrial Revolution. It allowed humans to act like machines. Humanity would have never lifted its hand for surplus production if it weren’t holding a raised glass. Th is holds equally true for industrialism. The production of alcohol itself didn’t just fuel the Industrial Revolution, it was one of its first services: “Breweries were among the earliest modern industrial enterprises.” Workers filled factories to earn wages used to get drunk and escape the monotony of drudgery. This is a hamster wheel that comes to define Modernity: the relentless pursuit of moments of elation, no matter what it takes to attain them.
Original Article (Black and Green Press):
Hooked on a feeling : The loss of community and rise of addiction
Artwork Fair Use: Mrandrewandrade
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