Those who enjoy Starbucks' VIA line of instant coffee products might want to think twice next time they are keen for a caffeine fix. The international coffee giant is moving its VIA factory from a country with guaranteed health care, sick leave, vacation days, maternity care, and gun control -- not to mention strict laws forbidding capital punishment -- to a rogue state with a list of human rights violations so long that even Amnesty International and the United Nations have voiced concern.
Yes, Starbucks, that happy-go-lucky-green-colored coffee shop where friendly folks right your name straight on the recycled coffee cup, is voting with its feet -- and money -- to support the economy of a place that has shown callous disregard for human life.
In this place, semi-automatic weapons are allowed everywhere: church, the bar, the coffee shop, the airport, even elementary schools.
In this place, citizens are arrested -- and charged with criminal acts -- for demanding that their brothers and sisters have right to basic health care, the kind of access to health care that Costa Ricans, Rwandans, Brazilians and Europeans all take for granted.
In this place, men of color are executed for crimes for which there is no evidence proving their guilt. So, too, are the mentally handicapped.
In this place, the poor -- unable to afford personal automobiles -- are left without access to fresh food.
In this place, public transportation is so unreliable -- in the face of white opposition to funding projects for the greater good -- that young people are left unable to make their dreams come true.
No, Starbucks is not moving its current European factory to Iran, North Korea, South Sudan or Afghanistan, but instead opening a new facility in the U.S. state of Georgia.
A company that spends so much time marketing itself as socially responsible should not be rewarding the cruel behavior of a rogue state.
Let Starbucks hear you loud and clear.
Phone800-Starbuc (800-782-7282)
Mon – Fri 5 AM – 8 PM (PST)
Sat – Sun 6 AM – 4 PM (PST)