As for the question of beans...
DR JohnG.'s loathing of kidney beans is well taken. I'd say they're the most pedestrian and boring of beans. I, like most people, grew up eating them by themselves and in various and sundry things. But almost every other bean in existence is more interesting and more tasty. DR Elmore suggested pinto or black beans for chili, and I'm down with that.
By the way, I'm afraid I don't take the trouble to cook beans myself. I buy what I need in a can. That's probably silly, but there it is.
Anyhoo, one that I like at Shop Rite is a can of "small red beans" which I think are much like pinto beans. I use those with my Skyline Chili mixes for Cincinnati chili. (The Cincinnati chili places do NOT use kidney beans at their locations, in spite of people's copycat recipes that call for them.)
I'll take my chili with or without beans, I won't object either way, but I'm definitely not averse to having them. For me, chili is a "pot" of "things", and including beans is fitting.