Behind the mission of the Coffee Cabal, lies a philosophy and reason as to why we think the way we do. The organization is founded on a number of beliefs and principles:
- Building Karma
- The Role of Responsibility
- Conditional Charity
- Support of Local Economies
- Realizing the Greater Good
Our philosophy is only outlined here to show the reasons and motivation for creating the Coffee Cabal. Though we are passionate about our beliefs and hope you share some of our beliefs, it is of course not necessary for you to agree with us, even if you wish to join the Coffee Cabal.
The Belief in Karma
Karma is the eastern concept of long-term cause and effect, that for each action you take in life, consequences arise as a result of those actions. While consequences are not necessarily good or bad, the belief is that karma eventually reflects your actions back to you in the future. Thus, if you spend your life helping others, you will have that same treatment directed back to yourself, either in life or beyond. The idiom "You reap what you sow" is similar to the concept of karma.
The reason to cultivate "good" karma is one of moral reciprocity and fairness. Everyone likes to be treated with respect, which to succeed as a whole, involves treating others with respect as well. Karma implies that while your behavior may not be judged absolutely, operating in a benevolent fashion is the likeliest way to a happy life.
The Role of Responsibility
Responsibility tends to be a loaded term that requires careful application when defining who or what is responsible. For instance, when someone says that one should be responsible for helping others, it’s a very broad statement that could be interpreted in many ways. Our definition of responsibility is one accountability, where an entity is tasked with an action for which they are liable. This is why we don’t agree with broad phrases like “one should be responsible for others” as that makes it a requirement rather than an option.
On the role of responsibility, our belief is that those who are the most able or fortunate are implicitly in the first positions to take on responsibility. For example, if a group of friends are swimming and one of them starts sinking, the most sensible action is to have the best swimmer in the group attempt a rescue. The reason is that the strong swimmer offers the best hope of a rescue and the overall minimum risk to the collective group. While the others in the group likely hope that the swimmer will step in, the swimmer should not be obligated or held accountable just because he or she is the best swimmer.
Responsibility is not easy
Our belief is that this principle of responsibility applies to situations on a whole, whether it be cases like the swimmer or assistance to those in need. The line between responsibility itself and being in a position to accept responsibility should not be forgotten however. Crossing that line is tantamount to punishing the strong swimmer in the example above for his or her years of effort in becoming a better swimmer. It can be argued that few persons look to take on more responsibility; it just happens that they are in the best position to take it on.
The Coffee Cabal was founded as our way of bearing a load of responsibility to help those less fortunate, given that the founders consider themselves fortunate in their own lives.
Conditional Charity
"Give a man a fish and he'll eat a day. Teach a man how to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime."
The above is a famous Chinese proverb which points out the importance of education versus providing a daily handout. By training and educating individuals to become self-sustaining in the long term, society can reduce the resources needed to support that person, reduce the overall burden of support and even turn that same person into a productive member of society.
When selecting charities and organization that the Coffee Cabal chooses to assist, we not only fund organizations which provide immediate needs such as food and shelter, but also to those involved in long-term needs such as job training, job placement and education. By taking a two pronged approach, we feel that our resources are put to the best overall use.
An obstacle which we face however, is the common misconception that all charities are run efficiently and altruistically simply because they are charities. Unfortunately, there are charities that exist to benefit their executives, though they represent a fraction of all charities. The real and larger problem are charities that suffer from bloated overhead, mismanagement and lackluster fundraising efficiency. Even large, very well known (and respected) charities can fall under these unfortunate circumstances.
Thus, in addition to balancing education and need, our philosophy of giving also requires that receiving organizations meet certain criteria which demonstrate their ability to effectively manage resources. These guidelines include key points such as fundraising efficiency, financial transparency, operational success and expense management. We need to know that our funds are used properly and being put to good use.
Support of Local Economies
In the age of information, with much talk of globalism, free trade and economies of scale, the Coffee Cabal takes a stand on supporting local businesses as part of long-term economic health.
Our belief is that on paper, economic principles of supply and demand, free markets and open competition work well. It forces a Darwinist approach to business, where the ‘fit’ succeed and the rest do not. Competition also forces prices down and often is a motivator for innovation. In practice however, modern era competition operates also operates on scales so large that it tends to drive many local shops out of businesses on price point alone.
Pike Place market stand.
The Coffee Cabal is not anti-business and neither are we a political organization against globalism, but we do believe that a healthy local economy depends on money flowing in and out at an even rate. This is also known as a balanced trade deficit, if you will. By enabling large national and global businesses to dominate local economies however, the flow of revenues is diverted to external locales and benefits a specific group as opposed to the broader local economy, where the money is often re-dispersed.
The economy relates to our mission as a whole, because many human needs are a result of a poor or dysfunctional economy. Poverty, joblessness, underemployment and accessible education are all direct causes of poor economic health. To us, it makes sense to have a balanced economic pyramid, one which is not top heavy and has a solid base to support the system.
We support local economies because it helps divert money back into the system, as opposed to disproportionately pooling in the hands of major shareholders. Much like our argument of responsibility, we do not believe that business owners or the ‘rich’ are responsible for sharing or redistributing their wealth. We do believe however, that the consumers are in a position of responsibility to help themselves and each other, by supporting businesses that share this philosophy.
Realizing the Greater Good
The “greater good” is an oft used term in philosophy circles and moral studies. Part of the definition of the greater good assumes that there is a collective social value where actions matter beyond the individual self. An example of the greater could be as simple as choosing to accept a $100 gift for yourself or having $1,000 donated to a charity. In this case, an argument could be made that the $1,000 to charity benefits more people on a whole than $100 does for yourself. In passing up on the $100 however, it would seem that the greater good may sometimes go against self-interest.
On a deeper level, this balance of self-interest and the greater good applies to many of the moral dilemmas of the current era: the environment, abortion, war or even same-sex rights. Does one spend the extra time each day to recycle or take care of more pressing matters? Should one go against ideological faith to support same-sex rights or the right to choose? Would one justify pre-emptive war to sleep better at night?
Determining the right response to any question of what makes the greater good is almost always subjective to one’s own moral code and opinions. There often are shades of gray verses the simple black and white response. But what truly matters, is the recognition of a greater good to begin with, of a cause greater than that of self-interest. So while good intentions may sometimes be misguided, it’s a much better place to start than with ill intentions.
The Coffee Cabal believes in a greater good, which is why we spend our time working to change our small part of the world.
