[Mpls] chains good or bad?

[Shauna Croom]

Based on the concept that big chains make life and business practically 
impossible for the small businesses who can't compete with big chain 
volume, I was firmly against their creeping into neighborhoods and 
putting mom & pop shops in jeapordy.  I was really up in arms about 
Walgreens, who refused to carry the morning after pill, because I felt 
that policy removed choice from poor women who may only have access to 
a Walgreen's pharmacy.

Then I noticed who gets employed by the chains: people of color, women, 
immigrants, young people, undereducated people or people in school, 
people who can only work part-time, the elderly, the disabled, people 
who live in the neighborhoods the chain crops up in.  

It occurred to me that my protest against corporate giants may actually 
be hurting the people I care most about.  It occurred to me that 
fighting to keep Walmart, McDonald's or Caribou coffee out of the 
neighborhood keeps necessary jobs out as well.

I welcome your comments on my quandry.  

Shauna, formerly of Powderhorn Park  

----- Original Message -----
From: Victoria Heller <victoriaheller at comcast.net>
Date: Monday, February 23, 2004 8:53 am
Subject: [Mpls] chains good or bad?

> Mark Wilde asks:
> 
> "What I hear from many people is that chain
> resturants are a bad and should be stopped from
> opening. "
> 
> Vicky offers one answer:
> 
> The liberal elitists in Minneapolis know what's best for you.  You
> can't be trusted to make your own decisions.  Though proclaiming 
> to be
> "pro-choice" - they are not.  
> 
> Never mind where you want to eat, they will decide.
> Never mind where you want your children to be educated, they will
> decide.
> Never mind what vehicle you want to drive, they will decide.
> Never mind where you want to shop, they will decide.
> 
> In case you haven't noticed, you have given up many of your individual
> rights.....for the "good" of the whole.
> 
> Vicky Heller, North Oaks
> Cedar-Riverside (work)
> 
> 
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