Paper Dignity

"People with college degrees are working at Starbucks."

The horror. The shame they must feel, to go to work every day, to make money for making coffee. Better that they go back to school. Better that they seek more degrees, further confirmation of intellectual worth. What a terrible economy this is. A cubicle for every man; that should be the goal. Let those without degrees make things; let them sully their hands.

Ahem. Some context, perhaps.

I heard that quote on NPR today, uttered by a reporter while discussing the difficult economy. It seems a degree doesn't guarantee anyone an office these days. Nor - and this is the implication - does it promise a job of which one can be proud.

This will not be a post about chasing your dreams, or about doing what makes you happy. No, this is more about pragmatism, and elitism.

On pragmatism: A job is a job, and "real" if the money is. While most baristas (myself included) are not payed lavishly, the money is usually sufficient. It is, in most cases, what a recent graduate would make in most any other field, especially when tips are factored in. And if we're talking specifically about Starbucks, it needs to be said that the giant pays quite well, and offers a lot of room for advancement.

On elitism: A person with a degree is no better than a person without, and no more deserving of a job that pays enough, or the satisfaction that comes from doing it.

I have a degree from the University of Kansas in English, obtained without a great deal of effort, and in large part, because I was born in to fortunate circumstances. I had good schools, enough money, clothes, and food. I had a stable family unit and plenty of friends. Change those variables, and the degree may change - or even disappear.

In any case, degree or no, why is physical labor shameful? Does fixing cars require less processing of information and problem solving skills than trading stocks? Even if it did, does that make the job - and thus, those who do it - any less necessary?

Of course not. And yet we still get quotes like that, meant as an off-hand jest, but nonetheless full of judgment. And that's really a shame. Everyone does something with their lives, and there are worse paths than employment at Starbucks.

Life Isn't Fair, and Neither is Coffee

Education means a lot of things to a lot of people. It means numbers and letters, things both esoteric and practical. It means degrees, more degrees, or real life experience. Probably, it means some mess of all of these things most of the time.

But for right now, I think it's important to consider one specific aspect of education: Current events. It's a junior high class where I come from, and not the sort I recall taking very seriously. Never again was an entire class devoted to the idea, though I had plenty concerning events and people long dead. This is probably a fallacy on some level. There are those who will tell you that history is instructive; it teaches you where we've been, and thus where we might be going. That's all well and good, but not so vital as understanding where the hell we are in the first place.

That said, it's probably easier to understand history than the present moment. We have the benefit of hindsight concerning the former, and nothing so convenient for the latter. Perhaps that's why no one teaches current events. It's hard to teach something you can't claim knowledge of yourself. Best leave it to future generations. Let them decide what happened, rather than try to figure out what's happening.

Even still, I think anyone who would be educated makes an attempt to be informed regarding current events. Perhaps they don't read every inch of every paper ever day; perhaps they even spend time on entertainment. That's healthy, at the very least, and probably shows a broader grasp of current events than one who focuses solely on geopolitics.

Admittedly, it's much more likely for a person to go the other direction. It's comforting to place your concerns with things that, ultimately, don't matter much. That's why people obsess over things like sports, gossip, food, fitness, and whatever else. That's why I have a gym membership, and couldn't imagine the alternative being possible. That's why I read fantasy novels. That's why this blog exists. Serious things are serious enough without our taking them seriously. But emotionally investing in one's ability to pour milk in a cup is just the right kind of frivolous.

But there are those less glamorous pages, those stories that don't involve spectacular levels of sex or violence. These deaths are unglamorous, anonymous. This is faceless suffering, numbers placed in an unfortunate spreadsheet column, never spared more than a fleeting moment's guilt, if that.

If being educated requires an awareness of current events, then it also requires an awareness of this sort of thing. It requires a knowledge that most of the world is starving to death, while the rest is committing suicide by corn syrup. And it requires a knowledge that this gap is widening as fast as first world waistlines.

This is not a new revelation, of course. There have been doomsday prophets for as long as there have been days at all, cynics and alarmists who would find the end from the beginning. But while this isn't new, it is the furthest thing from alarmist. It is fact, not disputed by anyone willing to objectively examine the data. We have too much; they have too little. We are getting more; they are getting less. They long for daily bread, while we anguish over what processed flour might do to our abs.

I'm externalizing this to an extent. When I say "we", I might as well say "me". I wonder if 100 grams of protein a day is "enough", when the World Health Organization sets the bar at a fraction of that. Even still, most of the world falls short. And I could go on, noting just about every aspect of my life, from the bed I wake up in to the computer I'm typing this on.

There is coffee, too, probably the best example. I work with it daily, making, by global standards, a ridiculous sum of money. I am paid enough to eat what I want, as often as I want, to see movies and buy new clothes on a whim, to fill up a car I drive with little though devoted to its emissions. And this is all for an absolute luxury, a thing not one person on Earth has ever or will ever need. There is the water it takes to brew a pot too, when most of the world can't get a clean cup a day. There is the electricity, which requires fossil fuels. Not to mention the milk. Not to mention the transport of the beans themselves, which cannot be grown in the United States, but must be shipped at significant cost. Not to mention the farmers, the mono-cropping, the species wiped out so I can drink what I like.

Of course, there are people who would do things better. There is fair trade, which may or may not be fair at all. But even if the latter is true, there are small companies devoted to cultivating relationships with small farms, with growers who do things right. There is the superficially trivial fact that coffee, though not strictly necessary for anyone, feels like it is for most people in this country. It makes their day tolerable at least, and at best, might make them happy. That's my job, as I see it. If what I do is indeed a luxury, if my life is one most of the world could never dream of, then making the best of it is the least I can do.

While ignoring current events, the darker realities of right now, might be easy, so is guilt. Feeling bad allows one to feel superior without doing anything. This isn't to say that I have the answer, or that I'm doing anything but poorly justifying my greedy existence on some would-be moral ground. But whatever the answer is, it's not feeling guilty. It's certainly not feeling bad at what others lack, and worse about what you've got. And while we're searching, being happy and and trying to inspire the same in others is the best I've come up with.

Up

I've written a little about the economics of coffee before -- very little. Basically, I've noted that prices are trending up, and that such a trend has consequences. Well, this does appear a trend, and not a fad.

There is a quote at the end which offers hope, I think, or at least something like optimism. I'm going to assume you didn't read the entire piece (I didn't) and deliver the punchline here: "People who like good coffee are going to have good coffee."

Which means people need to keep making good coffee. People don't complain about high prices, so much as low perceived value. 

The Empire Strikes Back

I wrote, just a few days ago, that Starbucks' ubiquity and presence is not so damaging as some make it out to be, and in fact, may be beneficial. My argument is best summed up with an old saying: A rising tide lifts all boats. And while truisms frequently are not, there is relevant wisdom in this case.

But good, bad, or indifferent (as if anyone with an interest in coffee could be) feelings aside, there is no denying that Starbucks is a major player in the food service realm, a titan that so eclipses the coffee category that it scarcely belongs in it.

I could tell you why I think that is; but my opinions are merely that, and crafted from well outside the relevant sphere. To read more educated opinion on Starbucks' return to prominence (dominance?), see this blog on Forbes.

Diminishing Demand

I wrote, not too long ago, that coffee had crossed the three dollar threshold for the first time in decades. Subsequently, and not surprisingly, coffee shops began upping their prices. Customers voiced concerns, but it seems now that they may have done more than that.

From Bloomberg.com:

Arabica coffee retreated for the third straight day on signs of sliding demand. Sugar fell, while cocoa rose.

Coffee inventories in warehouses monitored by ICE Futures U.S. in New York rose 1.2 percent in April, the first monthly gain since October 2008. Mild-bean prices offered by producing countries are the lowest in two or three years, according to Rodrigo Costa, vice-president of institutional sales at Newedge.

“We have witnessed a fall in demand,” Costa said by telephone from New York.

Arabica coffee for July delivery dropped 0.7 cent, or 0.2 percent, to settle at $2.8755 a pound at 2 p.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. The most-active contract slid 4.1 percent this week.

As you can see, that three dollar threshold has been crossed again; this time, it's going in the other direction. This is certainly not a precipitous drop, but it shouldn't be disregarded either. 

Clearly, there is a market for coffee. That includes, we tend to think, a growing market for more expensive, specialty drinks. This trend doesn't prove otherwise, but it does tend to suggest that coffee -- at least the pricier stuff -- is still a luxury item to most people. As such, it can be done without, when the price creeps uncomfortable high.

Whether this trend continues, and whether prices adjust to reflect it, will be worth watching.

Three Dollar Threshold

While most of the nation frets and kvetches over rising gas prices, there are those of us who worry more about our fuel of choice - coffee. Arabica beans are, as of right now, more expensive than at any time in 34 years. Estimates are that consumers might end up paying 10-12% more for their daily fix, often times bumping even a small coffee over the two-dollar threshold.

Some places have responded already (I've seen a few in Lawrence), and they are hearing the complaints. "For that size?" people say, incredulous. The barista shrugs, manages a sheepish grin, and says "Yeah."

The customer does not know that Arabica beans are now more than three dollars a pound; if they did, they probably do not care.

But - and pardon the moralizing here - they should care. And if they care about their local cafe, they should continue to support it. There are all sorts of cliche lines about voting with your dollar, but it's a simple truth: Local coffee shops function perpetually close to the red. In order to survive, such places need to charge a little more. Thus, if you want such places to survive, you have to pay a little more.

This is economics on a level even I can understand. It's great to talk about supporting local, buying grass-fed beef and farm-fresh eggs, etc. Quality counts, and quality costs. So if you value local, if you value quality, you pay for it. Because, as painful as it is to shill out that extra dime for a coffee, it's much worse to lose your favorite cafe.