There's a Political Party for that!!

Whether you are a Republican, Democrat, third party or undecided, there is one thing we can all agree on: this campaign season needs to calm down and quit drinking too much coffee. I know my first blog post was about how coffee is a good thing; however, I think this campaign season is a good example of what too much coffee can do to a group of people.

But there might be a light at the end of the tunnel for all of us coffee drinkers!

You might not know this but there is an actual Coffee Party.

I am going to take a moment to let you clean up the coffee you just spit out of your mouth because you were too shocked to learn that there is an actual Coffee Party.

Before I get too far into the blog post, I need to warn my readers that I am not promoting the ideals of the Coffee Party USA. Instead, I am reporting the facts.

Yes, I understand this is a blog and if I want to talk about supporting a party that is named after my favorite beverage, I can. However, I feel it is more important to talk about the facts.

In the beginning

Coffee Party USA is a grassroots, non-partisan movement whose goal is to restore the democratic process.

 

Annabel Park started Coffee Party USA as a Facebook page on January 26, 2010. Within four months, the page had more than 200,000 memberships and each status had over a million views.

Park wrote an article to CNN in March of 2010. In the article, she discussed where the idea of the Coffee Party came from:

           

         “I had no idea what would transpire. It was about 1:30 a.m. January 26, and I was very frustrated with the endless news coverage about the Tea Party and the growing narrative that it represented America.”

The first Coffee Party Convention was held in September of 2010. Over 50 chapter leaders and organizers met to discuss the party platform. 

The Coffee Party does not endorse candidates. Instead, they are focused on issue that can help change Washington.

They have posted a couple of articles encouraging members to continue the practices of the party.

One of my favorite articles was by Tim Danahey, Coffee Party USA Director of Public and Member Relations.  In the article, he describes to members how to engage in a discussion with someone who doesn’t agree with them .   

 Political Positions 

A Denver Post article acknowledged the Coffee Party as a “more academic and centrist” group. They continued to say, “it is a timely and welcome development of a more intellectual form of political activism."  They also tend to be rational in their decisions and they do not jump to conclusions.

But I cannot truly make this statement until we establish the facts.

Objectives and ideals   

***The following italic words can be found at the official Coffee Party USA website.

Mission Statement 

“Building, nurturing and connecting communities to reclaim our government for the people.”

The organization’s mission statement is based on the principle of the government is "not the enemy of the people, but the expression of our collective will, and that we must participate in the democratic process in order to address the challenges we face as Americans." 

Vision Statement 

“Coffee Party USA envisions a nation of diverse communities sharing a culture of informed public engagement where our sacred right to vote is the only currency of our representative democracy.”

Civility Pledge 

“As a member or supporter of the Coffee Party, I pledge to conduct myself in a way that is civil, honest, and respectful toward people with whom I disagree. I value people from different cultures, I value people with different ideas, and I value and cherish the democratic process.”

Civility

We empathize and engage with one another exercising humility, listening, honesty and respect, in order to provide an emotionally safe environment even when we disagree.

Continuous Learning

We seek the truth, learn the facts, and share with others to make informed decisions relevant to the ongoing improvement of ourselves, the nation and our shared, overlapping lives.

Authenticity & Transparency

Because we are human, in our genuine quest to restore our republic's representative democracy we may stumble, but we will do so in plain sight, with trust and expecting a hand up from one another.

Goals

                                   Electoral Reform  

o   Campaign Finance Reform: Pass campaign finance laws that limit the impact of special interest groups such as corporations, major political parties and lobbyists.

o   Redistricting: End gerrymandering to protect seats for a party control.

       Corruption Law Reform

o   Public Accountability: Hold public servants (politicians, judges, law enforcement officers, etc.) accountable for their actions and decisions. Public servants must not be allowed to act outside the interest of everyday people. They must be honest and transparent (whether it’s in lobby ties, privacy invasion, labeling, or environmental impact).

o   Corporate Reform: Corporations are not people, but consist of people as workers, shareholders, board members et al. End Corporate Welfare and all Cronyism between corporations and government. Corporations have a responsibility to respect and support (employees and the general public).

o   Wall Street Reform: Reform banking and corporate oversight laws to protect everyday people. Appropriately fund and improve audit and reporting standards.

                      Tax Reform

o   Citizen-Oriented Taxes: Pass or repeal tax laws to reduce our debt, enhance society, and create economic growth.

o   Equitable Taxation: The burden of taxation must be applied fairly to businesses and people.

         Inclusive Empowerment

o   Mutual Respect: Treat everyone with dignity and acceptance regardless of every ethnicity, national origin, religious orientation, sexual identity, political outlook, or income level in a manner which is civil and meaningful.

o   Inclusive Dialogue: Support an Informed Citizenry with an inclusion of all viewpoints with civil presentation and encouragement of civil conversation.

o   Constructive Collaboration: Create and support standards and practices for collaborative work and develop a commitment to each other to get to know one another while we impact the country.

In Conclusion 

This campaign season might be crazy; but, I hope you walked away from this post learning something new. I hope you learned there are various political parties in the country. 

They might not have a candidate running for office but they have ways to get people involved. For example, the Coffee Party is doing a bumper sticker campaign titled, "Vote Anyway." The goal of this campaign is to encourage  citizens to vote, even though many would say it does not matter.

So go do research and learn more about politics. You might be surprised to learn that there is a political party that supports your ideas and is named after your favorite beverage. 

A "Lattè" About Coffeehouses

Coffeehouses are literally my favorite place on this planet. There are times when I spend six hours at a coffeehouse working on homework and drinking coffee. I’m pretty sure most of the people working know my preferred drink, as well as what subjects I am studying.  

But I do not mind if they know more information about me than my own mother; I love the atmosphere and the chill music. I could probably spend days there. In fact, I want my wedding reception to take place at a coffeehouse because that is how much I love the atmosphere.

However, coffeehouses have not always had the atmosphere they have today.  There were times when coffeehouses were the place for Revolution meetings and there were times when women were not allowed to purchase coffee.

But, First We Need To Start In The Beginning.  

Coffeehouses originally started in the Middle East during the 1500’s.  They began as a simple place to enjoy coffee, but as years went on they became something more.

They became a place for political gatherings for Muslims; however, Khair Beg, the Governor of Mecca, feared the influence of coffee and coffeehouses.  He banned coffee because he worried that people were talking about revolting against his reign while they were drinking their coffee.  The sultan (the sovereign of an Islamic country) then released a statement that they believed coffee was sacred and then people did revolt again Khair Beg--he was then executed. 

The idea of a coffeehouse spread from the Middle East to England when Queen Elizabeth I opened English trade to the world.

Pasque Rosee opened the first coffeehouse in England in 1652. It was known as “The Turks Head.” Nearly 10 years later there were over 80 coffeehouses in England.  

In an article from INeedCoffee, a traveler to London in 1668 remarked, “Coffee-Houses, which are very numerous in London, are extremely convenient. You have all manner of news there; you have a good Fire, which you may sit by as long as you please; you have a Dish of Coffee; you meet your Friends for the transaction of Business, and all for a penny, if you don’t care to spend more.”

Men Only Club

In case you couldn’t tell from the comment, English people really liked their coffeehouses. In fact, some men spent so much time there, they had their mail delivered to the coffeehouse. Honestly, if my future husband were to have his mail delivered to the coffeehouse I would have told him to move a bed there as well (but maybe that’s why I am not living in that time period).

But men getting their mail delivered to coffeehouses isn’t even craziest part that happened!

Women were not allowed to purchase coffee at a coffeehouse—only men were allowed.  Obviously, this wouldn’t pass in the year of 2016 because women purchase a lot of coffee today (I tried finding a statistic that proved women drink more coffee than men; however, most research agrees that men drink more coffee than women. Coffeebeansderlivered.com has a great breakdown of men vs. women statistics when it comes to coffee consumption).

The petition against coffee  

However, women in 1674 did not agree with this arrangement, so they published the “Women’s Petition Against Coffee.”   The petition went something like this:

“At these Houses (as at the Springs in Afric) meet all sorts of Animals, whence follows the production of a thousand Monster Opinions and Absurdities; yet for being dangerous to Government, we dare to be their Compurgators, as well knowing them to be too tame and too talkative to make any desperate Politicians:…”

Unfortunately, the petition didn’t get far.  Men kept spending their time at coffeehouses and mail continued to be delivered there rather than the homes of the men.  

The males spent their time at coffeehouses talking about intense political topics.  In fact, it is rumored that some of America’s Founding Fathers began discussing the failures of the monarchy and about the colonies while they were enjoying a good cup of joe at a coffeehouse.

This then got back to the King and one year later, in 1675, King Charles II of England wrote a proclamation to have all coffeehouses shut down.  

Even though the proclamation was overturned, the popularity of coffeehouses began to drastically decline.

But What About America?

To no one’s surprise, the idea of a coffeehouse spread to the United States during the late 1700’s.  Coffeehouses are actually an important part of American history.   

The Merchants Coffeehouse
in Philadelphia 

The Merchant’s Coffee House in Philadelphia was a popular meeting place for George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Marquis de Lafayette, John Adams and more.  

I mean how cool would it be to be a “barista” at that time? It would be like:

            

“Good morning, Mr. Washington! What is on the agenda for today?"

“Oh nothing to major, Kristen.  We are just going to talk about a piece of paper talking about our independence from the King. Could I get a medium Americano?"

“That sounds great! You should call it the Declaration of Independence!”

           

“I think that is an excellent idea, Kristen! We shall call it the Declaration of Independence!”

I think that sounds like a very realistic scenario.

But the Merchants Coffee House isn’t the only coffeehouse with history.  In fact, the Tontine Coffee House in New York is the home of the New York Stock Exchange.  

Tontine Coffee House
in New York 

Tontine was literally a coffeehouse where people bought and sold stocks! It was also a place for

business dealings, discussions and political transactions. It had meeting rooms, auctions and banquets. It was even a place for political demonstrations.

In conclusion 

There is a common theme among the stories of the Middle East, England and the United States. I don't know if you noticed but coffeehouses are a place where people share news, exchange stories, read books, get advice, learn information, make business deals and so much more. In a way, coffeehouses are like a hub for communication. 

By writing this article, I learned something new about myself. 

I originally thought I liked coffeehouses because I love coffee and coffeehouses were a place to get coffee. But the reason why I spend so much time there is because, walking into a coffeehouse takes me away from reality and puts me into a realm of learning and curiosity.  

I will spend hours studying at coffeehouses learning new information. I meet friends at coffeehouses to catch up with their life. I have met my sister at a coffeehouse to talk about life. I have gained advice from a professional mentor while at a coffeehouse.  I listen to new music at coffeehouses. 

I may not change the world, like George Washington, when I go to a coffeehouse but I am changing my world. I always walk away from a coffeehouse accomplished and refreshed with everything new I have learned and finished.

So the next time you are at a coffeehouse, take a look around you and see what people are doing. Because who knows, maybe the person sitting at the table next to you is discussing the future Declaration of Independence.  And let's be real....who wouldn't want to miss out on that conversation?