Stimulants

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In my opinion, it is a cartel. The world woke up and worked just fine for millennia without needing a caffeine infusion. But somewhere along the way, mass production was not leading to mass consumption. So the pushing began and before long, became self-propelled. In drawing rooms around the world, sombre first conferences of the day are held to find an excuse for a cuppa of choice stimulants. Businesses with a keen eye on the dependencies chose to push it further into a kaleidoscope of flavours for all tastes, minor twists developing major markets. Someone somewhere first said "I need my [chai/coffee] to get started". Whether that person was actually in need of a pick-me-up or was delaying getting to work we will never know but the sentiments were carried forward with enthusiasm.