So as I was standing in line at Starbucks to order my typical grande zen iced green tea with splenda, I came upon a few interesting observations:
Firstly, I chuckled at the irony of starbucks displaying 25 different varieties of "regional" coffee blends from around the world at the very affordable price of $13.99/lb. Out of these 25 blends, one in particular caught my eye; it was in bright red packaging and labeled as "Coffee from Africa to Africa." For some reason, the image of workers in the democratic republic of Congo drinking a cappuccino espresso before heading out to mine blood diamonds didn't seem all that believable to me...but thats just me. Apparently however, with each pound of this eastern African coffee that you, the morally conscientious consumer buy, an entire dollar will go to the IMF to help AIDS victims living in Africa. How generous! Can you imagine, a company that brings in billions of dollars in annual revenue is kind enough to donate 0.00001% of its total earnings to Africa! Groundbreaking!
Is it just me or does this simply scream hyprocrisy? Wouldn't it be easier (and cheaper) for you to just log onto the IMF website and donate a dollar online? Or do you need to buy a pound of coffee at a 300% markup to justify giving a giving away a measly 7% of it to Africa? Don't the victimized and oppressed people deserve more?
Another equally bothering realization is that despite all their high-faluted promises to "the environment" and corrugated cardboard made of "20% recycled material," they do not have one recycling bin in their cafes! Not one! What are their 20% recycled material cardboard cups worth when everything else they produce (made out of plastic and paper) is never recycled? A little hypocritical, wouldn't you say?
On another topic, I recently came across this great book that I recommend reading (if you're into sociology and human interactions). Its called "the Art of Seduction" by Robert Greene and is extremely informative. Its not just about seducing the opposite sex, but a book about how to understand anyone's needs and tap into them to your own advantage. I thinkg that being able to interact with and charm others is an incredibly helpful skill to be armed with in this day and age and this book explains just how to do that. If power is more your thing, then I recommend you check out Robert Greene's "the 48 Laws of Power." Although I haven't yet had the chance to read it, it seems equally fascinating.
If any of you have any interesting book suggestions that you'd like to share, please feel free to post them on this blog. Thanks!
I love this rant, Natal'ya. The speciousness of these corporate gestures is indeed lamentable. And that's ignoring the questionable politics of the subvention of Western interventionism via the dubious IMF. How do you feel about purchasing your iced green tea? Do you feel that that constitutes an indirect support for such practices?
ReplyDeleteThanks Will...I was studying there and the thought just occurred to me. In response to your question the answer is yes, I do feel somewhat guilty about purchasing products from a store whose actions I don't wholly approve of. However, I'm not really sure about the alternative. Our life is so saturated with exploitation that I wouldn't know where to begin stopping the process. Almost every product we purchase or service that we attain is the result of some form of exploitation. Otherwise, there would be no Wal Marts or McDonalds in this world and we could forget about our flat screen TVs and Nike tennis shoes. Its pretty sad but that's the world we live in. Also, it doesn't say much complimentary things about our value system.
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