Coffee Customization as a Symptom of Societal Abandonment of Objective Standards and Meaning
Source: https://www.facebook.com/americanspectator/. "On Cappuccino and Standards | The American Spectator | USA News and Politics." September 19, 2026. spectator.org
The Gist
The author argues that when coffee shops let customers customize cappuccino however they like (different sizes, flavors, temperatures), it's not just annoying—it's a symptom of a larger cultural problem where America has stopped respecting fixed definitions and standards. He connects this coffee complaint to bigger issues like debates over what a woman is, abortion law, and modern art, suggesting all of these reflect the same troubling shift away from objective truth toward 'defining things your own way.'
Conclusion
American society's willingness to redefine traditional standards and meanings (exemplified by customized cappuccino) reflects a broader, troubling cultural and legal trend of relativism that undermines objective truth and meaning in language, gender, law, and art.
Premises
- Cappuccino has a traditional, exact definition (specific size, ingredients, temperature) rooted in Italian craft tradition, and true artisans honor this standard rather than customizing it.
- American coffee shops (including Starbucks) have abandoned authentic cappuccino-making standards to cater to customer demands for size, flavor, and temperature variations, resulting in a product that is no longer truly a cappuccino.
- This willingness to redefine cappuccino is analogous to other societal instances of abandoning fixed definitions, such as politicians debating the meaning of 'is,' or officials unable to define 'woman.'
- Legal precedents like Justice Kennedy's 'mystery clause' in Planned Parenthood v. Casey exemplify a broader jurisprudential embrace of subjective self-definition over objective standards, with harmful consequences (e.g., prolonging Roe v. Wade).
- The art world's elevation of provocative or low-craftsmanship works (e.g., Mapplethorpe, 'Dung Mary,' 'Piss Christ') over traditionally skilled works (e.g., Michelangelo's Pieta) reflects the same abandonment of objective standards of quality and meaning.
- Conservatives, by nature, seek to conserve traditional standards and meanings, while progressives seek to change or relativize them.
- Starbucks' display of LGBTQ+ pride symbols is presented as further evidence of an institution that has abandoned traditional, fixed categories (in this case, gender) in favor of self-definition.
Assumptions
- Traditional or original definitions and standards are inherently superior to modified or customized ones.
- Consumer demand for customization is equivalent to or symptomatic of moral/philosophical relativism.
- There is a meaningful causal or logical connection between coffee customization, legal philosophy, gender identity, and artistic value.
- Standards in craft (like cappuccino-making) are analogous to standards in law, biology, and art in ways that make comparisons valid.
- Progressive politics and cultural changes are monolithically about erasing standards, rather than being complex movements with varied aims.
- The existence of fixed, objective standards in one domain (coffee) implies or supports the existence of fixed standards in ethically/politically contested domains (gender, abortion law).