Boycott Whole Foods

There was never a shortage of reasons to dislike Whole Foods. There’s already a list here detailing the poor working conditions, shutting out local farms for corporate farms, union-busting, criminal activity, etc.

I only disliked them because I thought it was stupid to pay 10 bucks for a can of beans.

But CEO Bill Mackey is a whole new kind of stupid. He is a right-wing libertarian with strong conservative views who decided to attack his primary clientele...progressives. Even before he launched his tirade yesterday in the WSJ, the dumbass was part of Jon Stossel's hit job on Healthcare Reform two years ago, where he compared people getting chemotherapy to buying wine or steak in his stores.

First off, reaching out to conservatives is probably not the brightest marketing move. You see, conservatives don’t typically hang out at Whole Foods or organic tea shops. They have contempt for the whole hippie, “tree-hugger” meme. Reaching out to them is as pointless as trying to argue the points of social liberalism during the intermission at a tractor-pull.

The majority of WFI’s base are vegetarians and progressive liberals with cash to burn. They are the odd combo of “hippie-yuppies” who make it a point to shop at your store because they believe it is the right thing to do, no matter how much cheaper they can get the food elsewhere and no matter how far away it is.

Well, after today, anyone who still shops there are as stupid as the CEO. They are contributing money to defeat not just a progressive cause but a solution that will stave off a truly huge American crisis. A crisis that will impact most of us, not the super-wealthy like Bob Mackey.

But what about my organic food?

DarkSyde gave a link to locate your nearest organic store: www.organicstorelocator.com

Here’s some other ideas: shop at your local health food co-op, shop at your local farmer’s market, or shop at a competitor like Trader Joe’s—or or even the organic section of your local grocer.

For the love of God, don't shop at Whole Foods. It's inconvenient, it's outrageously expensive, it's crooked, and you would be supporting a company that is dedicated to stop healthcare reform.

Now about the article:
Plenty of conservative rhetoric with absolutely NOTHING to address the out of control healthcare costs which are guaranteed to double by the next decade, which are already bankrupting employers, governments, and forcing millions of Americans to forego insurance.


He addressed none of that. Here's his "ideas":
Enact Tort Reform…
Really? We’ve done that genius under Bush. Did your rates go down? NOPE. The “savings” were never passed on.

Make costs transparent so that consumers understand what health-care treatments cost.
20% of each dollar goes to profit, along with 30 cents for their inefficient buracrucay. Transparent enough for ya?

Remove the legal obstacles that slow the creation of high-deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts (HSAs).
What obstacles? If you are charged twice as much as the treatment costs, how does HAS help anyway?

Repeal all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines.
Meaning any state that requires a minimum standard of coverage is screwed.

Revise tax forms to make it easier for individuals to make a voluntary, tax-deductible donation to help the millions of people who have no insurance
Who would get that, idiot. THE GOVERNMENT? The insurance companies?

We are told by INSURANCE bureaucrats that have an eye only on the bottom line what health care treatments people are eligible for.

Then there’s this slam against nations that provide a minimum level of care to all their citizens (quick note—that’s ALL industrialized countries in the world EXCEPT US!!):
Rather, citizens in these countries are told by government bureaucrats what health-care treatments they are eligible to receive and when they can receive them. All countries with socialized medicine ration health care by forcing their citizens to wait in lines to receive scarce treatments

First of all, we are talking about an OPTION for millions of Americans who can’t afford coverage. You want to keep private, the bill specifically provides for you to do that.

Second, America spends about 15% of its GDP on health care. Most other industrialized countries (all of whom have some form of universal care) spend about 11-12%. According to the WHO, Canada spends a bit over 9% -- and most of the problems within their system come out of the fact that it's chronically underfunded compared to the international average. Our system sucks--Any system that has people spending more and getting less is, by definition, not efficient.

But Mackey manages to get two myths in that short statement:

Myth 1: Rationed care: Don't look now: but America does ration care. And it does it in the most capricious, draconian, and often dishonest way possible. Mostly, the US system rations care by simply eliminating large numbers of people from the system due to an inability to pay. Furthermore, it can lead to financial ruin even if you HAVE health insurance.

Myth 2 Long lines: This line is often thrown out about Canadians. We won’t have anything like the Canadian system…however, this line is a LIE. People I know in Canada would NEVER trade their system for ours. NOT one of them has ever been turned away for needed medical attention or waited in long lines.

Don't spend your hard-earned cash in Whole Foods...spend it at a true organic store that won't fight healthcare reform.