A likely reason for Starbucks closing hundreds of its cafes is that there were too many of the to begin with; in many cases they coincide with a better location being found elsewhere. Kingston is a case in point; their first venue was out on the “racetrack” (the one-way system) which is the very edge of the Kingston shopping area. They later found places in the Bentall’s covered shopping mall and inside the Border’s bookshop, and then a few doors down from their original site but which is in a busy shopping area, so the original place has closed.

Another reason is that Starbuck’s coffee is expensive and mediocre. In the UK they cost £2.05 a cup, it’s weak tasting (I’m talking about the latte; the other drinks may be better), and the service is slow, with the staff re-steaming the jug of milk with every cup they pour. I only buy their coffee when they are the only place open, or when I badly want to read something I picked up on the bookshelves but don’t want to pay for it.

point two: all monies (gold or otherwise) are inherently worthless because you use them to obtain other things.

point three: look into the origins of capitalism, and you’ll see adam smith was actually a philosopher trying to design a system that would aid all people and would increase equality more than the mercantilism of the time. he felt the best way to do this would be to maximize efficiency, through specialization and industrialization. and one cannot deny the effect of the capitalist system in aiding the poor in industrialized nations.

the capitalism we read about nowadays obsessed with free markets and such is not smithian capitalism because it lacks the industrialization/specialization which was vital to the system.

i think to say the commodities and inflation issue is driven in part by the interest based system would be a correct statement however– central banks everywhere have been cutting interest rates–but it is also driven by increased demand. and the predatory practices of many global financial institutions are without doubt. still, one shouldn’t begin to claim the system is about to ‘collapse’ when the economy is not even in a technical ‘recession’ yet.

Amad (Author) said:

Being that I have been working in the oil industry for over a decade, I am looking forward to seeing the Shaykh’s take on “what’s wrong with oil”. I had planned to write something on it, so this is going to be cool :) I may have to challenge some of the “worldly” premises :)

You poor oil man.

I agree that most “Islamic” banks are not actually Islamic. My question is, are there any “Islamic” banks that are actually Islamic at all? Could you give us some examples, perhaps? Jazakallah Khair for the beneficial article.

Alhamdulilah and may Allah reward you with the best for this article. I agree with almost everything you mentioned but i have a doubt that needs to be cleared. It is about your thought on islamic banks not being very islamic….my doubt is how will i be able to judge whether such banks are actually islamic or not, after all almost all such banks run under the supervision of sharia scholars??? (i am not referring to the conventional banks having “islamic windows”)
…. JazakAllah Khair once again