I'm furious after reading this week's
Wall Street Journal op ed, authored by Whole Foods CEO John Mackay, who claims that the health care reform proposal currently underway will lead us toward socialism.
I've called my
local Whole Foods to explain why I will no longer be a customer. And I've emailed WF's corporate offices to voice my displeasure. And I sent the following to my Facebook friends. If you feel the way I feel about health care reform then I encourage you to vote with your dollars and boycott Whole Foods!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Friends, I'm writing to you because I believe your core values are similar to my own, and that this is information you'd want to have (if you haven't already come across it).
Earlier this week, Whole Foods' CEO John Mackey wrote an op ed for The Wall Street Journal in which he cast the current efforts to reform our broken health care system as "...a massive new health care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits...and move us that much closer to a complete governmental takeover of our health care system." You can read Mackey's entire op ed, along with his attempt at backpedaling, by visiting his blog: http://www2.wholefoodsmarket.com/blogs/jmackey/
Mackey goes on to write that the promoters of reform "believe that people have an intrinsic ethical right to health care-to universal and equal access to doctors, medicines, and hospitals. While all of us can empathize with those who are sick, how can we say that all people have any more of an intrinsic right to health care than they have an intrinsic right to food, clothing, owning their own homes, a car or a personal computer?"
I happen to believe that every single person in this country - old and young, rich and poor, urban and rural - DOES have an intrinsic ethical right to health care. My mother died last year after a long illness, saddling my father with over $1 million in medical expenses. And they HAD insurance. My father is now faced with bankruptcy as the only option for digging out of his predicament. This happens to tens of thousands of people every year. And among first world countries, this problem is wholly unique to the US.
Mackay and others like him, who claim that a government sponsored and managed option - designed to keep private insurers in line - will push us toward socialism. Make no mistake: they are doing so only to protect their own corporate interests.
Our system is undeniably broken. Republicans admit this - and they cry out for reform - but every single time they've had the ball (Reagan, Bush I, Bush II) they've done *nothing* to change how and which Americans are covered. The current debate - dominated by well-funded corporate lobbyists and Washington PR operatives encouraging stupid people to (once again) vote against their own self interests - is shameful. And it's beneath us.
Medicare is a socialized health care program. Social Security is a social safety net that millions rely on; and it's concept we copied from Germany. The government runs our schools, our police and fire protection and countless other functions. Adding healthcare coverage for every American will not make us a socialist country. If you feel - as I do - that every single American should have access to health care, I urge you to contact Whole Foods and voice your feelings.
It's time for change and it's time we start voting with our dollars to effect that change. I called the Boston Whole Foods store tonight and explained to the manager that most of her customers in Boston are liberal and that we strongly support health care reform WITH a public option for anyone who cannot afford private insurance. I told her I would no longer shop at Whole Foods for the duration of Mackay's tenure. She was very understanding. I've also written to the company's corporate headquarters. You can find corporate and store contact info by clicking here: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/company/service.php
If this is an issue that you care about strongly, please follow up accordingly with your local Whole Foods store and email their corporate headquarters to ensure your voice is heard.
There's now a Facebook Page promoting a boycott of Whole Foods as a result of CEO John Mackay's infuriating op ed on health care reform in The Wall Street Journal this past week. 
Posts
