Starbucks CEO Issues Open Letter, Calls For Job Creation
Not often does a billionaire chief executive of a prominent American brand assert that our system is effectively broken. Yet this is what Howard Schultz, chief executive officer of Starbucks, essentially told me this week when we sat down to discuss the open letter he was about to address to the nation.
A few weeks earlier, he had been absorbing a dispiriting run of news -- the prospect of another round of perilous brinkmanship over lifting the nation's debt ceiling, and a presidential campaign that seems disconnected from the crisis of joblessness -- when it occurred to him that Independence Day was approaching. He imagined the traditional fireworks and celebratory banter. It seemed wrong.
"It's a false celebration," Schultz told me. "I question the promise of America today."
This is the genesis of the letter he plans to serve up in coming days via full-page advertisements in national publications, including the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. In strikingly direct terms, the man who added frappuccino to the American lexicon decries what has been happening -- or not happening -- within these nominally United States. He assails the political dysfunction that invariably suffocates attempts at improving national fortunes. He calls on Americans to take matters into our own hands, fashioning local solutions to problems left unaddressed by a leadership void in Washington.
"Millions of Americans are out of work," Schultz declares in his letter. "Many more are working tirelessly yet still unable to adequately care for their families. Our veterans are not being welcomed home with the level of support they deserve. Meanwhile, in our nation's capital, our elected leaders are continuing to put ideology over real solutions. I love America, but we all know there is something wrong, and that we are better than this. The deficits this country must reconcile are much more than financial. Our inability to solve our own problems is sapping our national spirit."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/29/starbucks-ceo-issues-open_n_1632674.html?1340983336&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009
= new reply since forum marked as read
"are working tirelessly yet still unable to adequately care for their families" 
But SBucks is better than most, and that's a fact. 
Husband's son interviewed with SBucks about 6 years ago.
A six-feet-five-inch gentle giant with dreadlocks, and they loved him.
He talked with the asst. mgr. about rap...he was hired right away.
They offered him .25 above min wage, with the "promise" that
he "could" be considered for mgr after two years. He said great, and
what he REALLY wanted was to transfer to China (he speaks
pretty decent Mandarin, so I understand.) They weren't sure about that, of course.
Point is, he had no intention of making a "career" at SBucks. He
just burned out in Denver at an owner-run coffee shop (gads of
experience, you know) and wanted to move home to party
with dad and step-mom.
Point is: .25 ABOVE MIN WAGE. That's WAAAAY better than
McDonald's; hence my comment about better than most.
Good news is: He shook off the self-absorption, joined the
Air Force, now is LT, a spit-wad away from having a
degree in biochem.
Of course, he can't wait to come home to party with dad
and step-mom (NO SPLEEFS FOR YOU, MON!)
