yeah, i use to hear a lot of this kind of arguments before in my college days. makibaka!!! ibagsak ang imperialismo, colonialismo at capitalismo. that's the 3 ism's by the way which bamboo had made a song, habang may tatsulok, at sila ang nasa toktok, blah, blah, blah.... oh, back in those days they don't want coca cola coz its an american company, pero sige sila sul-ob ug levi's jeans kay nindot man daw, hehehe!
but about starbucks, really, its just another coffee shop. i don't know why the writer of that article wrote such a one-sided (his side only i guess) and very absurd argument. the fact is i love starbucks coffee, but i don't worship it as a religion. maybe for some they look sosi or feel sosi if they are drinking there coffee in starbucks, but lets not forget the fact also that alot of those in there can really afford to have there coffee in starbucks. besides, its only us here in the philippines that we made such a big deal of it, like that writer of that article. i had been to several starbucks coffee shop all over the world, and they always have this same ambiance that you will experience when you go inside, and i think that's what people are really paying for. and no, its not an escapism from the traffic of edsa, coz we're here in cebu, hehehe! simply just drinking good old coffee while chatting to your friends or closing a hundred million dollar deal.
if you want to compare prices, try drinking a regular cup of coffee in figarro, they have one in sm northwing. its owned by a filipino and they're practically more expensive in there compared to what you're getting if you buy a cup of coffee in starbucks.
i'll have my black coffee please....