Hating Starbucks is Hard Work (Updated)

Reading some of the articles on Alternet, I came across one that took a close look at one of the fringe left's favorite targets: Starbucks. Anywhere that people are protesting the WTO, where anti-capitalism slogans fly from lips like the medals ribbons from John Kerry's protesting grip, you will find a danger zone for Starbucks.

As a symbol of the evils of capitalism and globalization, Wal Mart may be the most hated of all American entities, but it's followed closely by McDonald's and Starbucks. When Kim Fellner talks about Starbucks, though, it's from the point of view of a protester who still really enjoys her latte.

I've been pondering the contradictions ever since, watching my progressive colleagues devour the latest episode of Friends, gleefully shop for real estate, and sip their lattes. Political ideology notwithstanding, we were avid participants in popular culture and petty capital. How could we so glibly demonize that which we so cheerfully consumed?

And as I went around the country, I couldn't help notice that both the employees and habitues of Starbucks seemed far more diverse by race and class than the American anti-globalization movement. I wanted to know, was big, by definition, bad? Was Starbucks' touted commitment to "values" just a cynical ploy to complement its branding and market share?

Few people argued that coffee was inherently evil like bombs or SUVs.

My only real comment on everything that she writes is that she misses the true hypocrisy inherent in the "progressive" position. Like some of my more liberal friends who label me as the "only good Republican," it gives Fellner pleasure to show just how open minded she is by becoming a half-hearted apologist for one of the giant, multi-national, capitalist companies.

What she's missing is that she and the other progressives love all of the benefits of living in a capitalist society where our needs are met with relative ease and that her political stance is distinctly at odds with that society. I considered sending an email to strike up a conversation, but found myself with nothing to say to her.

Her assumptions about the United States, capitalism, and SUVs are all so completely alien to my own world experience that there is no appreciable common ground for us to even begin a conversation.

It does make for fascinating reading, though.

Read the "Starbucks Paradox."

Update: And SJ points us to this funny bit that he got from Dean.

Posted by zombyboy at April 29, 2004 04:57 PM | TrackBack