While abroad in England for university, I've noticed some things about the way America is represented in the media, and to be brutally honest, it's not that great. For a nation that stands for opportunity and freedom and all the good things in between, it doesn't entirely seem that way; especially when you pull an Adele and look in "from the outside."
We're a big country, and we have a lot going on, but I can't help but begin to question why our news outlets work the way they do.
You've probably heard all about this red cup controversy; it has come and it has passed, and you've seen a handful of articles and videos about these Starbucks holiday cups, and posts like:
And many, many more where that came from.
Why is this even news? Why is this even something for people to fret about? Why has America exploded over a red cup? Why has it made news so quickly and why has it escalated to a "war on Christmas"?
People have been claiming that the company is anti-Christian and anti-Christmas, but Starbucks has never been a Christian company. Their coffee shops aren't a chapel where people go to study the Bible, and their baristas aren't pastors sharing the good word through a cappuccino or macchiato. It's just a business, and a delicious one at that.
It's upsetting to see this sort of anger, this sort of unrest, directed toward a cup that people typically use for less than one hour. Imagine if people became just as inspired as they are to make Starbucks baristas write "Merry Christmas" with something like changing the education system in America. What if people became so up in arms about the type of attitude school's have towards testing that we went to PTA and Board of Education meetings to make a difference, instead of looking at a red cup and saying, "Hey, where's the Christmas tree?" What if the American public used this energy to focus on more important issues in our country, like the treatment of mental health or violence against marginalized groups? There is so much more to be concerned about in the world than a recyclable cup from which you drink overrated coffee.
If America wants to be as great and amazing as it claims it is, maybe we should focus on real news, and discuss global and local issues. News sources should tell the public things more important than social media trends and things hyped up on the Internet. We as a people should demand the best and most informative journalism as well. If we take this enery, this anger or frustration that's directed towards something so trivial and aim it towards a serious issue, imagine the real change we could make. We can change so much more than a cup's design. We can change lives.
