From Claire Bernish at theantimedia.org:
When billionaire presidential hopeful Donald Trump inexplicably decided this week that boycotting Starbucks over the ‘de-Christmas-ization’ of their ubiquitous red holiday coffee cup was somehow a matter of national importance, the internet exploded — and American mainstream media fanned the flames.
People from every conceivable walk of life suddenly found themselves with a reason to rise up against the establishment coffee chain and scream in indignation about this newly-neutral — and cheerlessly Grinch-ified — affront to humanity. As if this inane insanity over an innocuous paper cup weren’t an embarrassing enough commentary on the U.S.’ populace’ lack of priorities — by Wednesday morning, the corporatocracy ever-so nobly answered the outrage: Dunkin’ Donuts unveiled its decidedly cheerful, appropriately Christmas-ized version of its holiday cup.
Yes, indeed. Starbucks’ apparent war on Christmas has now fully morphed into a de facto corporate Battle of the Paper Cups. People immediately responded by declaring their undying allegiance to either Team Grinch or Team Santa, conveniently ignoring the fact that these mega-corporations just figured out their most lucrative holiday marketing strategies — weeks before Thanksgiving even crossed people’s minds.
But the passion these warring coffee cup factions have managed to muster is indisputably misplaced, especially considering the bevy of pertinent issues that directly affect us all and are inherently more deserving of outrage. Though the month isn’t yet halfway behind us, there are already myriad concerns in need of your immediate attention — and none have anything whatsoever to do with a commercialized holiday that’s still well over a month away.
Here are five things exponentially more deserving of your indignation than a paper cup — no matter its design (or lack thereof):
1. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
Perhaps nothing encapsulates the sickening intrusion of crony-capitalism into our personal affairs more than the insidious, notorious TPP, which was dubbed the corporate power-grab of the century, even before the full text was released this week by the White House. At stake with this trade pact between the U.S. and 11 other countries is an economic coup that will drive 40% of the world’s GDP — at the expense of civilians worldwide.
To continue reading: 5 Stories the Media Missed
