Woodstock Was Not Stoned on Starbucks

Taking a stroll down memory lane I watched the movie, “Woodstock”
and also “Taking Woodstock” and “Across the Universe”,
all of which give a glimpse into the 60’s spirit. The thing that
strikes me more than anything else is the calmness of the people, all
three hundred thousand of them. And I can’t help but wonder if not
having a coffee craze then wasn’t part of the reason there were so
many ‘good vibes’ in the air. Caffeine is a Central Nervous
System (CNS) stimulant, causing the body to produce ‘fight or
flight’ neurotransmitters—basically making the body ready
for….action, for battle.

In the 60’s people walked slower and talked slower and, in general,
were more mellow. Now everyone seems in a hurry, talks fast, is
super ‘focused’ and hyper. Starbucks is the drug of choice now,
giving a speedy counterweight to the antidepressants being swallowed
daily. Just like the pot being sold today, today’s coffee is much
higher in its active ingredient. Which is one reason I won’t smoke
pot anymore, as the stuff today is so strong as to be able to sedate
an elephant.

But coffee is another matter. I’m a junkie, I confess. Any cosmic
consciousness I had coming out of the sixties hs been replace with
hyper alertness and a readiness for…action.

I was Cosmic Man. Now I’m Action Man, eyes alert, foot tapping,
mind hopping from one thing to the next.

How much is this super-caffeinated ‘lifestyle’ affecting the body
politic? There may be no way to quantify it precisely, but examining
the effects of caffeine on the CNS is helpful.

https://www.mayoclinic.com/health/drug-information/DR602089/DSECTION=side-effects

“Caffeine is the world’s most widely consumed psychoactive substance, but
unlike many other psychoactive substances it is legal and unregulated
in nearly all jurisdictions.” (Wikipedia)

Caffeine increases attentiveness and alertness but that begs the question:
what, exactly, do we have to be increasingly attentive and alert to
that requires us to risk so much by consuming a psychoactive drug in
ever-increasing amounts? What, exactly, are we ‘fighting and
flighting’ from?

Starbucks surely must rank high on the list of all time great drug pushers.
Starbucks sells its own drug—caffeine—and helps Big Pharma sell
billions more in drugs to calm us down from all the caffeine
Starbucks sells.

Posted by: Harrell Graham
Views: 8093
Topic:10