The Whole Story
Interesting interview with Whole Foods CEO John Mackey in the latest issue of Reason. I'd describe him as a hippie capitalist. Here he is discussing the evolution of his politics:
The philosophy that I had prior to starting Whole Foods was just kind of "business is evil and government's good." Then I started a business and was trying to meet a payroll and realized that a lot of people thought I'd become the bad guy because I had become a greedy businessperson. And so I had to throw out my worldview.
It's good to work as a lowly employee so you can understand that viewpoint. Of course, most people do that at one point in their life. It would be just as useful to view things from the other side, but most don't, which allows a lot of people to see big business as a conspiracy of rich people hoarding their money.
By the way, I'm glad Whole Foods is around but I generally don't shop there. It's a bit too expensive.
posted by LAGuy @ 12:27 AM
5 Comments:
John Mackey wrote an 8 point proposal for health care reform which would have already been passed if proposed. It was liberal enough but bipartisan. It did not create 110 new agencies.
Actually, since he supported free market ideas to fix health care, he enraged thousands of his own shoppers, who organized a boycott of his store.
Didn't John mackey get into trouble for blogging under pseudonyms?
He actually discusses that in the interview. Didn't sound like much to me.
The government also investigated him on buying up another franchise, claiming he was cornering the market in alternative groceries, though he claimed, correctly I'd say, he was competing against all grocery stores.
When I read the eight point plan, i remember it pushing state control over insurance industry to a federal level, removal of preexisting condition clauses, and at least one other "liberal" talking point. I think very few liberals read past the thatcher and ayn rand quotes. Did he quote both of them or am I misremebering?
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