Can Coffee Shops Save America?
Cafes are, in many ways, community hubs that are integral to the robustness of civil society.
In my neighborhood, there is a cafe practically on every block. Some are, of course, more vibrant than others. While I can think of a few shops that are rather sterile and lacking in adequate seating, others are often crowded and bustling with conversation.
In Front Porch Republic - a publication that is easily becoming one of my favorites - Dennis Uhlman writes about the liveliness of his local coffee shop in Columbia, South Carolina:
Baptist pastors, Presbyterian pastors, engineering students, and art students learn each other’s names in a way that would be unlikely in any other sort of social arrangement.
Cafes, much like the one that Uhlman frequents, are third places. These are - as defined by Ray Oldenburg, who coined the term - informal gathering places, known for their low barriers to entry. Because of the low barrier to entry, third places have a leveling effect. That is, anyone from any profession or socio-economic status is welcome.
This social-leveling component is particularly important. As Uhlman notes, America, from its conception, has been an amalgam of different peoples with different histories. While there is merit in pluralism, it also presents a pernicious problem: lack of social cohesion. This is, in part, ameliorated by third places. Modern day coffee shops, like the New England taverns of colonial America, "break down social barriers and bring different types of people together."
Aside from facilitating social and economic-connectedness, Uhlman writes of the many other benefits of coffee shops, such as their role in reducing political polarization. I encourage you to read the piece here.
Yes and No.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't the Friends 1990 world anymore. For better or Worse we are an internet centric world now.
That being said technology has enabled people of shared interest to bypass time and space and communicate, surely it can bridge people in proximity.