Salon | Letters to the editor

_______________THE HIGH CHURCH OF STARBUCKS BY JENNIFER REESE (11/24/97)

While the piece on Starbucks is certainly interesting, I found the criticism a bit strained. I mean, c'mon. "New Age dishonesty" is the best she could come up with? While I find most Darwinian-style business practices of capitalism, um, distasteful, I would think long and hard before aiming criticism at a company that actually offers benefits and stock options to part-timers. That particular practice speaks volumes. And as for CEO Howard Schultz's John Denver-ish image, so what? Everybody's got a line. That's his.
Find something else to write about. And tell your reporter to start consuming decaffeinated products. It may help her prose.

-- Steve

I just read Jennifer Reese's piece on Starbucks. As an outsider, she can only see hints of Starbucks' duplicity. If there's ever any interest, Reese can dig up tons of dirt by talking to current and former employees. From thwarting the formation of a union in the roasting plants, to implausibly long hours, to hazardous work environments, to unrightful dismissal, to denial of disability benefits, there's a lot to tell.
The Starbucks' warm and caring corporate image is precisely that, an image.
-- Jason Osgood

_______________PROZAC IS FOR WIMPS BY CAMILLE PAGLIA (11/25/97)

Ms. Paglia is entitled to her opinion about Prozac's effects on moods and creativity -- I take Prozac for anxiety and depression and have my own questions about it. But to suggest that we revert to alcohol is nothing less than completely irresponsible. Surely an educated person like Ms. Paglia doesn't believe that alcohol's effects "even in excess, rarely last long." Surely she isn't the only person on the planet unaware of the long-term emotional and physical damage that excessive drinking causes.

-- Jane Chafin

I generally love Camille Paglia's column, but here I must defend the French. It's unpopular, I know, but I love lost causes. While living in France (four years), I always defended America. Now I live in the U.S. So here we go, payback time. Right up front, I'm Austrian, to clear up affiliation suspicions.
French-bashing in the Anglo world is so entrenched that nobody notices how bad it is. Your French academic bête noires don't count in everyday French life. In France there is a huge rift between government and elites (including the journalists you dealt with) on one side, and real life on the other. My French friends were often France-critical to the point of desperation with their system, and every kind of rhetoric is taken with a built-in grain of salt. Only Americans take that stuff seriously! And of course all the news stories about France you get over here are but tiny stereotyped CNN-style factoids.
The French soak up American pop culture quite naturally, in spite of their government's best efforts, and use and transform it further. Ever heard some of the delicious Franco-African hip-hop? Yet, there is discussion of intellectual life and ideas by the French public, something I have not experienced during my two years in L.A. You might say, why don't they change their elite if they know it's out of touch? Well, Americans are also well informed about their country's infamous drug and violence problems and still struggle helplessly. Everybody's caught up in their systems and solutions are sought within them, while the way the system is built is often part of the problem.
Yes, the French have a fearful fixation with foreign influence -- the Germans, to start with -- and feel overwhelmed. But they poke at American policies just to annoy the lone Giant. They are the only ones left to act up a little on the international political scene, though they know full well they are no real match. C'est la guerre, non? A little sportsmanship please! The world should be grateful for a little playful animation!

-- Markus Karner
SALON | DEC. 1, 1997

R E C E N T L Y+| SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME BY JONATHAN BRODER

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_______________THE HIGH CHURCH OF STARBUCKS BY JENNIFER REESE (11/24/97)
	While the piece on Starbucks is certainly interesting, I found the criticism a bit strained. I mean, c'mon. "New Age dishonesty" is the best she could come up with? While I find most Darwinian-style business practices of capitalism, um, distasteful, I would think long and hard before aiming criticism at a company that actually offers benefits and stock options to part-timers. That particular practice speaks volumes. And as for CEO Howard Schultz's John Denver-ish image, so what? Everybody's got a line. That's his. Find something else to write about. And tell your reporter to start consuming decaffeinated products. It may help her prose. -- Steve I just read Jennifer Reese's piece on Starbucks. As an outsider, she can only see hints of Starbucks' duplicity. If there's ever any interest, Reese can dig up tons of dirt by talking to current and former employees. From thwarting the formation of a union in the roasting plants, to implausibly long hours, to hazardous work environments, to unrightful dismissal, to denial of disability benefits, there's a lot to tell. The Starbucks' warm and caring corporate image is precisely that, an image. -- Jason Osgood
_______________PROZAC IS FOR WIMPS BY CAMILLE PAGLIA (11/25/97)
	Ms. Paglia is entitled to her opinion about Prozac's effects on moods and creativity -- I take Prozac for anxiety and depression and have my own questions about it. But to suggest that we revert to alcohol is nothing less than completely irresponsible. Surely an educated person like Ms. Paglia doesn't believe that alcohol's effects "even in excess, rarely last long." Surely she isn't the only person on the planet unaware of the long-term emotional and physical damage that excessive drinking causes. -- Jane Chafin I generally love Camille Paglia's column, but here I must defend the French. It's unpopular, I know, but I love lost causes. While living in France (four years), I always defended America. Now I live in the U.S. So here we go, payback time. Right up front, I'm Austrian, to clear up affiliation suspicions. French-bashing in the Anglo world is so entrenched that nobody notices how bad it is. Your French academic bête noires don't count in everyday French life. In France there is a huge rift between government and elites (including the journalists you dealt with) on one side, and real life on the other. My French friends were often France-critical to the point of desperation with their system, and every kind of rhetoric is taken with a built-in grain of salt. Only Americans take that stuff seriously! And of course all the news stories about France you get over here are but tiny stereotyped CNN-style factoids. The French soak up American pop culture quite naturally, in spite of their government's best efforts, and use and transform it further. Ever heard some of the delicious Franco-African hip-hop? Yet, there is discussion of intellectual life and ideas by the French public, something I have not experienced during my two years in L.A. You might say, why don't they change their elite if they know it's out of touch? Well, Americans are also well informed about their country's infamous drug and violence problems and still struggle helplessly. Everybody's caught up in their systems and solutions are sought within them, while the way the system is built is often part of the problem. Yes, the French have a fearful fixation with foreign influence -- the Germans, to start with -- and feel overwhelmed. But they poke at American policies just to annoy the lone Giant. They are the only ones left to act up a little on the international political scene, though they know full well they are no real match. C'est la guerre, non? A little sportsmanship please! The world should be grateful for a little playful animation! -- Markus Karner SALON \| DEC. 1, 1997