How Coffee Houses Brewed Up Liberalism — and Still Do

Optimism is a fleeting commodity these days. President Donald Trump may have refrained from his threat to obliterate “an entire civilization,” but he has nevertheless obliterated a ton of America’s moral capital. Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, may be set to lose the election on April 12, but his patron in Russia, Vladimir Putin, looks as strong as ever. Behind every positive looms a bigger negative.

There is one thing you can do to ward off existential despair. Go to your local coffee shop and order a cup of coffee. Not only is relaxing over a cup of coffee a perfect therapy in troubled times. The world’s booming coffee culture is a sign of the health of the liberal order.