By cosmopolitan, Wurgaft is using it as the Soviet government defined it in StalinÆs time as the selfish drives of capitalism (Wurgaft 75). He is referring to the younger generation whom he believes are becoming too wrapped up in themselves and donÆt care about their neighbors. They would rather sit by themselves in Starbucks, reading, writing, or on the computer, than in an old fashioned coffee shop talking with members of the community and exchanging news and views. Wurgaft is committed to the past and to the coffee shops of old, which were neighborhood hangouts where workingclass people met to talk over local affairs and what was in the news over a cup of coffee. In contrast, he sees Starbucks as a place where the young executives and recent college graduates gather, not so much to socialize as to write and read and work on their computers or make calls on cell phones, using all the latest technology but not interacting as a community as he sees it. ThatÆs why he thinks Starbucks encourages "rootless cosmopolitanism" - people with no ties to one another, only interested in the selfish drives of capitalism.
Wurgaft sees Starbucks as something that does not fit in with a community, that exists to serve the yuppies, and students and new graduates, young people who have moved into the neighborhood, but does not promote communication between them, but rather promotes their isolation (Wurgaft 76). They each go there with their own purpose in mind and not to meet and chat and exchange local gossip. The new generation donÆt relate in this way. Wurgaft is pining for something which is gone. The old neighborhoods donÆt exist. The old relationships donÆt exist. People are too busy with their hectic work and life schedules for the life he talks about. Starbucks exemplifies life in the 21st century. It fits in with the lifestyle younger people live today. It is somewhere quiet where they can work and study over a good ...