Take Me Seriously, Please. Part II

Good grief. You’d think that if your history was 2000 year’s old, you were the fastest growing economy every in the history of the world and you were coming into your own as a world power you’d not be threatened by a cup of coffee and a green logo. Well, think again.China has once again has displayed it’s national insecurities with the admission that it’s considering a request to remove a Starbucks from the Forbidden City. Apparently, the fact that Starbucks is inside the walls of the Forbidden City (akin to say, a Panda Express in the Smithsonian) is an “an insult to Chinese civilization.” I thought China was still “working to build a civilized society.”Now, to be fair, not everyone in China agrees that a Starbucks in the Forbidden City is an insult. Indeed, Starbucks is so popular that they’ve had to file numerous trademark lawsuits in China—apparently no Chinese are offended by the color of money. But enough are offended at this cultural outrage that the proposed removal is being considered. Aren’t there bigger issues than a coffee shop that are threatening the cultural purity of the Chinese? Are some Chinese really so threatened by a latte that it has to be eliminated from the presence? If Chinese culture is so great, won’t “all Chinese people on both sides of the straight” overcome this insult by just naturally boycotting the café out of sheer national pride?My theory is that the café is doing well—probably very well. And some official is bugged that tourists aren’t drinking the particular brand of tea from his hometown or cousin’s tea plantation.Other theories claim that it's really a bit more offensive than us American Capitalist Pigs may think. More akin to a McDonald's in the Louver.Either way, China needs to step beyond it's past and into the future--insults, real or imagined, to dead emperors should be taken with a grain of salt. Or coffee, as the case may be.