Accidentally started by documentary filmmaker Annabel Park, the Coffee Party movement faces its first test today: newly-formed Coffee Party chapters are meeting all across the country. Formed out of frustration over what some call the extreme views of the Tea Party movement, and even racism, the Coffee Party movement started with a rant on her Facebook page by Park.
Several weeks ago, Park posted the following on Facebook:
"Let's start a coffee party — a Red Bull party — anything but tea. Let's get together and drink cappuccino and have real political dialogue with substance and compassion."
After Park was swamped by responses agreeing with her, that the Tea Party movement did not represent their of America, things snowballed. The official Coffee Party movement
Facebook group has swelled to over 130,000 fans. They also have an official
website. Interestingly, despite being founded in March of 2009, as opposed to weeks ago, the Tea Party facebook group has only 110,000 fans.
Saturday, local Coffee Party movement organizers will hold more than 350 meetings for the Coffee Party National Kick Off. Meetings will take place in almost every state, with national organizers encouraging groups of no more than eight people at a local (where else) coffee shop.
The Coffee Party movement
declares the following on its Facebook page:
"We want jobs with decent pay for all Americans. We want affordable health care and education. We want our government to cut wasteful spending and practice fiscal discipline. We want regulation of Wall Street to protect consumers and promotion of financial literacy."
It also states the following in a
message to Congress:
"You work for us, not for corporations. We hired you and we get to fire you. We pay you and give you great health insurance. Now get to work serving the interests of the American people, or get out."
The Coffee Party movement, like the Tea Party movement, believes that government does not represent them. Unlike the Tea Party, however, the Coffee Party wants to change it so that government does represent them. Meanwhile, the Tea Party wants government to go away.
It is clear, therefore, that the Tea Parties have not taken an example from Denmark. For years (
2007,
2008, late
2009) Denmark has been called the "happiest place on earth."
University of Copenhagen Sociologist Peter Glindelock described part of the reason for the happiness in Denmark is, in fact, big government. He has conducted many studies on this issue.
Glindelock says part of the reason is the country's social system. "The happiness standard is the quality of life in different societies. And Denmark scores very highly on all those different values. So even though the climate is poor, which is part of that analysis, it still shows that the welfare state is very important for people's happiness."
In Denmark, the state controls the health, educational, and other systems, and the Danes are willing to pay high taxes to support them. "And this kind of welfare state means that everybody gets more or less the same from the state," said Glindelock. "At least what the Danes like, they like an egalitarian society."
Watch a video from the Coffee Party Movement's website:
