The Wonderful World of Coca-Cola

So far, my trip to Atlanta has been marked by a grueling, completely unnecessary hike up a landmark known as "Stone Mountain", which as it turns is partially a time-capsule of Southern Confederate nostalgia--the landmark proudly brandished the Confederate flag, the Confederate state flag, and monuments to Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Jefferson Davis--and an equally unnecessary trip to the "World of Coca-Cola".

First, a word about the Confederacy and the Civil War. If Southerners want to emblazon the iconography of the Confederate South on their pickup trucks or trailers, then that's their right. However, they can't simultaneously argue that this iconography doesn't represent a profoundly racist past. And anyone who argues that the Civil War was not about slavery, but rather was a noble struggle over state's rights, is an apologist for one of the most reprehensible parts of human history. Technically, the Civil War was about state's rights... a state's rights to treat human beings as property, and the Confederacy's attempts to obscure the influence of slavery is what would be referred to today as spin.

Now, onto the "World of Coca-Cola". This facility was perfectly emblematic of the rampant corporatization of modern America. According to their presentation, Coca-Cola, which is merely a soft-drink product, has achieved the status of a cultural icon. In addition, I found out that when one opens a can of Coca-Cola, they are in fact opening "happiness". This is what our tour guide actually said--"opening happiness". Not only that, but they referred to the Coke factor as... you guessed it, a "happiness factory". Seriously? If it weren't all so mind-numbingly real, it would be satire.