Coffee and democracy

[shewhomust]

From the wonderful Quotation of the Day mailing list:

"Consider a mug of American coffee. It is found everywhere. It can be made by anyone. It is cheap - and refills are free. Being largely without flavor it can be diluted to taste. What it lacks in allure it makes up in size. It is the most democratic method ever devised for introducing caffeine into human beings. Now take a cup of Italian espresso. It requires expensive equipment. Price-to-volume ratio is outrageous, suggesting indifference to the consumer and ignorance of the market. The aesthetic satisfaction accessory to the beverage far outweighs its metabolic impact. It is not a drink; it is an artifact.

"This contrast can stand for the differences between America and Europe..."

- Tony Judt, director of the Remarque Institute at New York University.

This observation - that the democratic approach to making coffee results in coffee designed to please people who don't actually like coffee - sums up so many of my problems with democracy!

So what are they doing right in Finland?