Conformity, contrary to America's fantasies of itself, has been there since the beginning.
"I know of no country in which there is so little independence of mind and real freedom of discussion as in America."
Alexis de Tocqueville
I, too, have an affection for Starbucks, never understanding the prejudiced attitudes towards the company.
In every city I've visited, Starbucks saves architecturally-significant buildings from destruction by renovating them and making them pleasant and useful places. I've seen this in Toronto, Portland, Boston, and Chicago. It is an admirable policy.
Starbucks offers a lot of pretty decent entry-level jobs, far better in quality than an outfit like Wal-Mart.
Starbucks supports the Fair Trade movement. This too is an excellent corporate policy.
And Starbucks makes damn good coffee.
I see very little to object to in this well-run company. I wish that other octopus American corporations were even a little like it.
McDonald's slams its garish, ugly logos everywhere and sells crap to kids. Wal-Mart stores look like cinder-block warehouses in a sea of parking lots, and its employment policies are dismal. Many of the corporate sports corporations, like Nike, have been caught red-handed abusing child workers abroad.
