Try going into Starbucks and harassing the customers, cursing them, telling them how bad Starbucks coffee is, how overpriced it is, what is wrong with coffee trade across the world (Starbucks is not free trade), and how large corporations destroy small family-owned coffee shops that can't compete. Do all of this and see what happens. (I think the same applies to businesses in which you have long-term investments as well - they will listen to you but if you get disruptive your bank will have you removed no matter how much money is in your accounts)
(Spoiler Alert): they will call the police and you will be escorted away if you do not leave willingly. But wait, you PAY to drink Starbucks coffee and you have done so many times in the past! But wait, this is a democracy and you have a right to freedom of speech! How can this happen?
Because businesses are not democracies and in very few ways are they run like democracies.
-First, you have no choice what country and government you are born into, but businesses are optional. You are under no obligation to sign up/participate and if you really dislike them, you are under no obligation to continue doing business with them. In fact part of the problem with American businesses in my opinion is that people are so non-confrontational that they will continue to frequent a business where they receive bad service. This leads said businesses to give the bare minimum level of service because they know they can get away with it. Consumers should be assertive and if you hate the service you get, leave and never come back. I have done this several times with businesses, and I also will return to one again and again if they give me excellent service even if their prices are slightly higher than their competitors'.
-You are guaranteed certain rights within a democracy, but 99% of all places in America, (with the exception of obvious and provable sexual discrimination or gender discrimination) you can be fired from any business for any reason. If the owner has a bad dream about you or dislikes the way your shoes look, he can fire you on the spot. There is no trial, or hearing, nor is there any need for you to have even done anything wrong. They can just fire you for no good reason. It doesn't seem "fair" but it is reality according to the law.
-Obviously a government cannot outright refuse to "deal" with certain people and situations, but most businesses openly broadcast that they reserve the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason (excluding obvious gender or racial discrimination). Of course they would lose customer is they acted with too much capreciousness, but it is the desire for profit that is driving the "fairness" they display, not a legal or moral obligation.
-Related to this is what I mentioned above about free speech. In a democracy you are guaranteed the right to free speech to an extent. However you may not harass people, stalk them, or camp out inside a place of business and interfere with their customers. If you do, because what you are doing is taking place on private property, the business can have you removed by force if necessary.
-Finally, and ultimately, governments have totally different objectives from businesses. Governments exist to provide common benefits for a large group of people (public works, laws, security and defense, etc.) and are essentially non-profit oriented in their conception. They produce no real product or revenue of their own and their purpose is not geared around turning a profit. Businesses, on the other hand, exist for the sole reason of turning a profit (while providing a desirable good or service to its consumers). Ultimately businesses are about profit though, and the particular good or service they provide for their consumers is in large part determined by the amount of profit it will bring them either immediately or long-term. Government and businesses have very different ends in mind and thus they operate with very different methods.
Probably people will have strong words to say in response to this (probably negative), but I see so many people treating GLB like a government and like a democracy and speaking about it in these terms, and it seems incredibly strange to me since of all the businesses that exist in America, you would be hard pressed to find any that are run like a government, and certainly very few, if any, are run like a democracy. Thus I return to the statement in my title:
GLB is a business not a government - Discuss!
(Spoiler Alert): they will call the police and you will be escorted away if you do not leave willingly. But wait, you PAY to drink Starbucks coffee and you have done so many times in the past! But wait, this is a democracy and you have a right to freedom of speech! How can this happen?
Because businesses are not democracies and in very few ways are they run like democracies.
-First, you have no choice what country and government you are born into, but businesses are optional. You are under no obligation to sign up/participate and if you really dislike them, you are under no obligation to continue doing business with them. In fact part of the problem with American businesses in my opinion is that people are so non-confrontational that they will continue to frequent a business where they receive bad service. This leads said businesses to give the bare minimum level of service because they know they can get away with it. Consumers should be assertive and if you hate the service you get, leave and never come back. I have done this several times with businesses, and I also will return to one again and again if they give me excellent service even if their prices are slightly higher than their competitors'.
-You are guaranteed certain rights within a democracy, but 99% of all places in America, (with the exception of obvious and provable sexual discrimination or gender discrimination) you can be fired from any business for any reason. If the owner has a bad dream about you or dislikes the way your shoes look, he can fire you on the spot. There is no trial, or hearing, nor is there any need for you to have even done anything wrong. They can just fire you for no good reason. It doesn't seem "fair" but it is reality according to the law.
-Obviously a government cannot outright refuse to "deal" with certain people and situations, but most businesses openly broadcast that they reserve the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason (excluding obvious gender or racial discrimination). Of course they would lose customer is they acted with too much capreciousness, but it is the desire for profit that is driving the "fairness" they display, not a legal or moral obligation.
-Related to this is what I mentioned above about free speech. In a democracy you are guaranteed the right to free speech to an extent. However you may not harass people, stalk them, or camp out inside a place of business and interfere with their customers. If you do, because what you are doing is taking place on private property, the business can have you removed by force if necessary.
-Finally, and ultimately, governments have totally different objectives from businesses. Governments exist to provide common benefits for a large group of people (public works, laws, security and defense, etc.) and are essentially non-profit oriented in their conception. They produce no real product or revenue of their own and their purpose is not geared around turning a profit. Businesses, on the other hand, exist for the sole reason of turning a profit (while providing a desirable good or service to its consumers). Ultimately businesses are about profit though, and the particular good or service they provide for their consumers is in large part determined by the amount of profit it will bring them either immediately or long-term. Government and businesses have very different ends in mind and thus they operate with very different methods.
Probably people will have strong words to say in response to this (probably negative), but I see so many people treating GLB like a government and like a democracy and speaking about it in these terms, and it seems incredibly strange to me since of all the businesses that exist in America, you would be hard pressed to find any that are run like a government, and certainly very few, if any, are run like a democracy. Thus I return to the statement in my title:
GLB is a business not a government - Discuss!
Long live King Bort. 
