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CHAPTER 7
Then you must speak
Of one that loved not too wisely but too well,
Of one not easily jealous but, being wrought,
Perplexed in the extreme; of one whose hand,
Like the base Judean, threw a pearl away
Richer than all his tribe.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, Othello, The Moor of Venice
SOCRATES: Haven’t you noticed, bless you, that
I have become not merely lyrical but actually epic,
as if the former weren’t bad enough?
PLATO,Phaedrus
1. Trajectories
During his long adventure abroad, Roy immersed himself in the
tribulations of those even less fortunate than himself. His mission
took him to most of the major coffee-growing regions in the world,
where he surveyed the state of the workers on individual farms and
met with regional directors of aid organizations. It was arduous but
inspiring work. It was also heartbreaking. Most of the families had
been picking coffee for generations, unable to save enough money to
buy land or educate their children. It was difficult to see what could
be done for them, outside of total revolution—intersecting one circle
with another and producing another ellipsis that only led to more of
the same.
Yet if a more direct channel could be opened between the
consumer and the producer, if conscientious coffee-drinkers would
pay a bit more for beans that came from farms in which they were
assured workers were treated well and paid fairly, then the resources
could flow directly into the hands of those who deserved it. Perhaps,
over time, whole generations could then begin to escape the grinding
clutches of chaos, become educated and solvent, and drive the cycle
upwards toward virtue rather than downwards towards viscosity. It
sounded naively simple, but it was a start.
Over a period of months Roy managed to amass a list of farms
that could be considered fair and progressive, ones he could work
ABYSSINIA
100
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