Leftist bash of Whole Foods CEO John Mackey causing Backlash

Cultural Liberal Blog calls Mackey "a libertarian dick."

by Eric Dondero

A major controversy is brewing on the cultural left. John Mackey, Founder & CEO of Whole Foods Grocery Store chain, a darling of cultural liberals from Vermont to Seattle to the Bay Area, has come out strongly against Obama Care. In and editorial today in the Wall Street Journal Mackey wrote, in "The Whole Foods Alternative to Obama Care":

With a projected $1.8 trillion deficit for 2009, several trillions more in deficits projected over the next decade, and with both Medicare and Social Security entitlement spending about to ratchet up several notches over the next 15 years as Baby Boomers become eligible for both, we are rapidly running out of other people's money. These deficits are simply not sustainable. They are either going to result in unprecedented new taxes and inflation, or they will bankrupt us.

Mackey even had the audacity to quote one of the most hated figures among liberals:

"The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out
of other people's money." -- Lady Margaret Thatcher

ABC News reports that Mackey's pro-free market comments have sparked a boycott:

"I will never shop there again," vowed Joshua, a 45-year-old blogger, who asked that his last name not be published.

"I'm boycotting [Whole Foods] because all Americans need health care," said Lent, 33, who used to visit his local Whole Foods "several times a week."

One promiment Left blogger - Culture Lobster - even wrote:

I already knew that Whole Foods CEO John Mackey was an anti-union, libertarian dick... thanks to his op-ed in the Wall Street Journal (The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare) everyone else knows too!

Whole Foods was always too expensive for me anyway.

Mackey has referred to himself as a "libertarian," on many occasions in interviews in the past.

The proposed boycott may have already spawned a counter-boycott among his libertarian supporters. What Progressives have not figured, is that not everybody who is culturally left, is similarly economically left. Beyond the counter-boycott, the Leftist sponsored boycott could contribute to a more permanent split with cultural libertarians.

A prominent leader of the libertarian movement, Doug Bandow is now calling for an Anti-Boycott of Whole Foods.

From American Spectator:

My eating habits are pretty simple--and awful, so I just shop at the closest supermarket. But opponents of a government health care takeover might want to consider dropping by Whole Foods. It seems that some advocates of nationalized medicine are boycotting the store after its CEO, John Mackey, wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal opposing Obamacare...

it is good to see at least one company stand on principle.

What makes Bandow's rejection of the Left on this issue, so interesting (and sweet), is that he's one of the leaders of Anti-War/Paleo wing of the libertarian movement that's been preaching alliances with Liberals/Progressives for years.