Alternate History
What if Pablo Escobar Sold Coffee Instead?
Less money, more happiness
Criminal or not, Pablo Escobar was a visionary, but his vision, unfortunately, involved drugs. With Colombia being a notable producer of coffee, one cannot help but speculate upon how different Escobar’s life would have been should he have pursued coffee instead of cocaine.
There is no denial that Escobar’s riches would have probably only been a fraction of what he earned selling cocaine. Escobar’s net worth was estimated to be $30 billion, yet Howard Schultz, the founder of Starbucks, is roughly worth $5 billion today.
$5 billion is still a considerable fortune, but in comparison to Escobar’s riches, it is only a fraction. However, the loss of money would have been compensated by the gain of many other comforts.
A significantly safer life
Escobar would not have had to live with the fact that he was making his living selling a drug that does more harm than good. Furthermore, becoming the best at what he did involved killing, whether it was his men killing others or his men getting killed.
Safety was a major concern. At one point, Escobar was moving from hideout to hideout, not being able to enjoy his riches beyond his mansion and immediate property. He eventually had to stay in much humbler places to avoid detection. Coffee would not have compromised his safety.
Of course, any business is prone to corruption even if the commodity is as unmenacing as coffee, but this alternate history is based on the assumption he would ethically sell coffee.
Although selling coffee through an official company would require it to be taxed, it also comes with legal protection, and Escobar would not have had to hire the poor, uneducated, and felons to carry out his illegal work.
Respect from and for other people
Escobar tried to help the people through charitable acts, which seemed contradictory as he was simultaneously harming people, but assuming his run for office was genuine, he would have likely succeeded if coffee was attached to his name rather than cocaine.
At one point, Escobar’s family was trying to move abroad to flee the authorities. If Escobar was a coffee tycoon whose family still wanted to move abroad for better opportunities or simply a new experience, there would have been little to no reason to prevent them from doing that.
Escobar’s influence on his children would have been better without cocaine. Instead, his son initially seemed to be influenced by his exceptional criminal prowess, but luckily, he eventually became an architect in Argentina.
Finally, it would have been unlikely for Escobar, as a coffee tycoon, to suffer the same demise he did. He would have likely died of old age instead of being shot by the authorities. Being born in 1949, he would probably still be alive today and perhaps the world’s leading coffee provider.
Escobar would have likely become ultra-rich from coffee due to his sheer vision, and his riches could have enabled him to actually enjoy life, such as by traveling without fearing incarceration or extradition.
At one point, Escobar was so rich he burned $2 million to keep his daughter warm. So, cocaine was not worth the trouble at all.
The appeal Escobar found in cocaine was clear. It was relatively a novelty at the time, and being an illegal commodity with limited sources meant that he could push the boundaries of pricing, but other boundaries were pushed so far that his life became lifeless in the literal sense.
