Thursday, August 13, 2009
Hargrove / Politics Isn't Whole Foods Supposed To Be, You Know, Progressive About Stuff?
Posted by Brantley Hargrove on Thu, Aug 13, 2009 at 12:47 PM
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What's going on with Whole Foods? Normally I step into the place and feel suffused with granola-, patchouli-vibes. It's supposed to be the place where the environmentally conscious progressive shops, as opposed to the Evil Empire (Wal-Mart).
But Whole Foods CEO John Mackey is looking much less like his customers and more like a rabid, government-hating Teabagger. My question: Do the Prius-driving masses who shop at Whole Foods here in Nashville and elsewhere know this? Here's what I'm talking about:
First of all, Whole Foods is apparently uber-anti-union. CEO Mackey once said having unionized labor is like having herpes. Poetic.
Second, he's pulling one of those, "I support health care reform, but..." while basically taking a stand against health care reform. In a WSJ opinion piece, Mackey opens with a quote from Margaret Thatcher about socialism and goes on to say, "...the last thing our country needs is a massive new health-care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits and move us much closer to a government takeover of our health care system. Instead, we should be trying to achieve reforms by moving in the opposite direction -- toward less government control and more individual empowerment."
Right. Because that's been working so well for us.
Mackey carps about individual control of our own health, eating better, not smoking, etc. Yes, that's all good, and it'd go a long way toward cutting health care costs in this country. We're a bunch of fat, self-destructive slobs. I get it. But what about the guy who works for a small company that can't afford to insure him because insurance companies make said coverage unaffordable for businesses with small economies of scale? And he comes down with an illness that is completely unrelated to irresponsible personal behavior?
Anyway, something to think about next time I step into a Whole Foods store, feeling smarmy and self-righteous.
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