It's clear that most people who call themselves "progressives" believe that health care is, or should be considered, a right. But did you know that to some truly special progressives, there is a right that is considered even more sacred and important?
I'm talking, of course, about the right to be able to put people and their ideas into convenient little boxes and file them away for easy, comfortable storage. Conservatives often demonstrate their belief in this phony "right" as well, but since they are not the ones who are ridiculous enough to boycott Whole Foods Market, the conservatives get off scot-free in this column.
So, the progressives... Yes, most of these folks were strong proponents of free speech back when George W. Bush was in the White House, but the times, they are a changin'.
So what happened? Did Whole Foods do something terrible to incur their wrath? No, as a matter of fact, Whole Foods is one of the most forward-thinking, conscientiously operated businesses in the world.
What happened is that the company's founder and CEO, John Mackey, politely and constructively expressed an opinion in the pages of the Wall Street Journal. Since the article was published, protestors have stood in front of Whole Foods Market protesting Mackey as if he was some typical corporate executive bozo.
What did Mackey write to provoke all this attention? Did he suggest that Barack Obama wasn't born in the United States? Did he admit there were some chemicals in his store's arugula? Nope, he just refused to fit into the little box of what people expect from the CEO of an organic supermarket.
Consider the argument proffered by a new Facebook group, called "Boycott Whole Foods!", which today topped 28,000 members:
John Mackey, CEO and co-founder of Whole Foods wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on August 12, 2009 quoting Margaret Thatcher and suggesting that healthcare is a commodity that only the rich, like him, deserve.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052970204251404574342170072865070.html
Whole Foods has built its brand with the dollars of deceived progressives. Let them know your money will no longer go to support Whole Foods' anti-union, anti-health insurance reform, right-wing activities.
Of course, Mackey doesn't say that only the rich deserve health care. The reforms he proposes in the article are intended to make quality health care truly available and affordable to all citizens. In fact, Mackey's controversial article makes more sense than anything else I've read on the health care subject all summer, and I strongly recommend it.
Anyway, the article speaks for itself. Read it, and think... it's a free country, right?
As for boycotts, they are great for companies that actually cause harm to society, not so great for companies which actually go all out to help solve the world's problems. The name John Mackey has for years been synonymous with the term "conscience capitalism," but now he must either crawl back into somebody's little ideological box or risk the possibility that his universal health care loving customers will suddenly lose their taste for walnut pesto.
Personally, I wish Mackey would run for an office higher than CEO of Whole Foods. I'll bet his employees would vote for him.
(Funny, I seem to remember Obama himself mentioning Whole Foods on the campaign trail. I wonder if any of his own family and friends are stupid enough to join this boycott? I'll bet they aren't.)
Thursday, November 5, 2009 at 11:18PM