Are coffee shops too liberal? Are laptops, lattes, and deep conversation an affront to traditional Midwestern values? According to the Conservative Cafe they are just that.
The Chicago Tribune ran an article last week about the Conservative Cafe. Sick of liberal infested coffee shops that play folk music, the Conservative Cafe was created as a place where politics could be discussed without the nauseating liberal influence, t-shirts sold that say “Zip it hippie” and “Peace through Superior Firepower,” and Fox News played all the time. Midwestern values would be upheld – no silly laptops or ipods. And only strong basic coffee would be served – the only stuff real people (farmers and factory workers) need to get through their day – no frou-frou lattes (and I highly doubt anything remotely close to Fair Trade).
On one level the whole thing is utterly amusing. It’s a gimmick of course – and it probably works well in a Midwestern small town. I have no problem with the idea of creating safe space for people of a particular ideology to gather and discuss. But why exactly does such camaraderie have to be based on the ridicule of those not like them? One can hardly be for anything these days without referencing what one is against, must we be cruel in the process?
But then again I’m just one of those liberal hippies who drinks lattes, works on my laptop, and likes folk music. I guess my opinion doesn’t count.