Why John Mackey is My New Best Friend
* What’s New?: Swine Flu Pandemic and Massachusetts Bill 2028
* Feature Article: Why John Mackey is My New Best Friend
Swine Flu Pandemic & Massachusetts Bill 2028
If you are having doubts about this whole “swine flu” nonsense or are just plain sick of all the fear mongering, you are certainly not alone.
Check out these articles by Dr. Mercola:
Should we really worry about swine flu?
Are vaccinations really the answer?
And did you know there was a swine flu scare of 1976? Déjà vu, anyone?
And if all this were not enough, Massachusetts state Senate has just passed Bill 2028, the “Pandemic Response Bill.” I think this bill might just top the charts for the most Constitutional violations in a single document.
Check out Mike Adam’s article to read more on this insane piece of legislature and to download the bill in its entirety.
Sorry for such a bummer of an update. I promise the following feature is a little more lighthearted and uplifting! 
Swayze
Why John Mackey Is My New Best Friend
Whole Foods CEO John Mackey recently published an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal called The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare. The article offers eight ways to improve America’s health care system without further straining our wallets and is an obvious critique of President Obama’s public health care plan.
The basic theme of Mackey’s piece is that health care is not a birthright and that every person is responsible for his or her own health. Public health care is not only costly and unsupported by the US Constitution…it’s just plain WRONG!
Many Whole Foods shoppers are now boycotting the company, citing John Mackey’s insensitivity toward those Americans who cannot afford proper health care as their reason.
Why Is John Mackey My New Best Friend?
I have had great respect for John Mackey ever since I learned about his support and usage of Health Safety Accounts at Whole Foods. Even though I rarely (if ever) shop at Whole Foods, Mackey’s support of individuality and personal responsibility resonates highly with me. His recent op-ed has only deepened my warm feelings toward him and his company.
Don’t be surprised if you see me sporting an “I Heart Mackey” shirt in the near future. 
Because John Mackey Believes In The US Constitution
All of the following quotes are from Mackey’s article:
Health care is a service that we all need, but just like food and shelter it is best provided through voluntary and mutually beneficial market exchanges. A careful reading of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will not reveal any intrinsic right to health care, food or shelter. That’s because there isn’t any. This “right” has never existed in America.
Mackey brings up two great points here. First, the best quality health care is provided by the private sector. The increasing cost of insurance and care that we see today can both be linked to government intervention (an unequal tax code and the inability of health insurance companies to compete state-to-state, for instance).
And I don’t know about you, but I’m not exactly 100% confident in the competency of the US government (or any governing body, for that matter). Our own government can’t even count votes accurately, for Pete’s sake!
Second, there is no Constitutional right to nationalized health care in this country. Period.
Because John Mackey Believes In Personal Responsibility
Rather than increase government spending and control, we need to address the root causes of poor health. This begins with the realization that every American adult is responsible for his or her own health.
Bingo. Too many people forget or choose to ignore the fact that our own health is our own responsibility.
Mackey continues:
Unfortunately many of our health-care problems are self-inflicted: two-thirds of Americans are now overweight and one-third are obese. Most of the diseases that kill us and account for about 70% of all health-care spending—heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes and obesity—are mostly preventable through proper diet, exercise, not smoking, minimal alcohol consumption and other healthy lifestyle choices.
Another nail on the head. Just think how empty those hospital beds would be if everyone took responsibility instead of turning to the government and “Big Pharma” to solve their health woes.
Because John Mackey Knows True Health Doesn’t Come In Pill Form
Recent scientific and medical evidence shows that a diet consisting of foods that are plant-based, nutrient dense and low-fat will help prevent and often reverse most degenerative diseases that kill us and are expensive to treat. We should be able to live largely disease-free lives until we are well into our 90s and even past 100 years of age.
Couldn’t have said it better myself. Well, I can be a little bit more specific…
- Eat lots of fruit
- Eat minimal fat
- Don’t forget your greens
- Exercise
- Get plenty of sleep
- Get plenty of sunshine
- Etc.
But if living healthfully is so simple (and cheap), why isn’t everyone doing it?
Fear Leads To Inaction, Knowledge Leads To Action
If you remember from a recent article of mine Raw Food: The New Frontier, I discussed fear and the role it plays in peoples’ aversion to personal health. Many people fear that they are not competent enough to take good care of themselves.
As a result, the general public turns to modern medicine and the government ( and your tax dollars) for help, falsely believing that fancy credentials and even fancier attire mean unending nutritional and fitness expertise.
They don’t. The current state of human health proves that they don’t.
Take A Stand
Just as I did two weeks ago, I am encouraging CHALLENGING you to take a stand. Arm yourself with all the raw know-how you can and become your own health guru!
Oh…and don’t forget to showcase the power of personal responsibility (and support my fondness for John Mackey) by purchasing some delicious organic produce at Whole Foods.
Go raw and be fit,
Swayze
27 comments
[...] Why John Mackey is My New Best Friend [...]
Way to go Swazey,
I don’t recall reading anywhere in the Constitution the right to government run health care. Furthermore the notion of health care is a misnomer at best. Most of us health conscious folks call it “disease care”. When the government gets involved costs will skyrocket. Just look at subsidized agribusiness. We’re subsidizing corn (much of it genetically modified). We make high fructose corn syrup from it which we put in almost all packaged “foods”. Then we wonder why we have so many overweight and obese folks with heart disease, hypertension and type 2 diabestes. Now the government wants to fix it by instituing government run “health care”. Ha!
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Swayze Reply:
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:12 am
“When the government gets involved costs will skyrocket. Just look at subsidized agribusiness. We’re subsidizing corn (much of it genetically modified).”
So true. I find it interesting that the same people who complain about how much corn we grow support government-run health care. Commercial corn growers make absolutely no profit and actually LOSE money in their efforts. The only profit they make is from government help (i.e. our tax dollars).
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Thank you! It’s refreshing to hear another conversative, progressive individual. I tried talking politics on my blog and got absolutely BLASTED. You’d think raw foodists would agree that health is an individual responsibility, but naw, raw foodists tend to be way liberal. Oh well, I won’t shut up either. Thanks again!
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Swayze Reply:
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:13 am
Your welcome! Don’t be afraid to spread the good word.
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Awesome information Swayze!! Every chance I get, I will drive the 55 miles to Whole Foods and sport my “I Heart Mackey” shirt.
As a 65 year young female I am proof positive that RAW Fruit, Vegetables, Seeds and Nuts improve one’s health. After 2 weeks my morning aches and pains were gone and after 3 weeks I could sleep with my left arm curled under my head – which I had not been able to do after a fall two years ago. My doctor said at the time that I might need surgery sometime down the road if the Cortisone shots stopped working. Luckily, I only had two. My choice of diet did the work. I feel great and I am happily eating mostly fruits and greens.
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Swayze Reply:
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:16 am
Haha, make sure to send me some pictures! And congrats on your recovery on raw. That really is amazing.
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Originally the trio was Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Property. Property is tangible and helps with issues of equality within a society, not letting some people be paid 20 or more times what a hard-working, honest employee is paid. It takes health to pursue any of the above trio; this is common to all cultures, and every culture has used food and herbs for healing and for preventative medicine. Why are we so weird? Huge money inequalities.
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Swayze- I have an aversion to the medical response to ill ness and use it hardly ever use it. I abhor there ignoring the research on clinical nutrition and its effective impact on disease. I do value having the government run health care system call Medicare. Without it, I easily be wiped out with an accident needing surgery. Nearly one million enter bankruptcy because of medical expenses. As a raw food supporter, I would support the health care initiatives for others while advocating for real preventive health education that emphasizes nutrition- lifestyle. A full preventive thrust needs our support – I would rather errror on the side of compassion rather than judgements toward those who have not been as fortunate as I- we who have been introduced to the value of raw food and other dimensions of a healthier lifestyle. Thanks for the opportunity to present my response.
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Swayze Reply:
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:22 am
It is important to emphasize nutrition and other lifestyle factors, of course. But it is also just as necessary to emphasize saving for unforeseen accidents.
This is why I support Health Savings Accounts. Here is a great article on them from We Like It Raw:
http://tinyurl.com/ly9tth
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I’m sorry you fell this way, if the government were to get into health care and away from the lobbyist and special interest in-order to save money. The government would be compelled to tell the truth to the american people about nutrition.
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Mary Reply:
August 31st, 2009 at 7:58 am
The United Nations has spent over three decades telling the American government to reduce the size of its population. Our people DO believe in having some status as individuals, and that is not appreciated by power people. The H1N1 vaccine comes in a nasal spray that is not full of the adulterants that are known to cause damage; demand this if required to be vaccinated.
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I suppose that adulterants can be added to nasal vaccines, but so far, they are not in them. This is so the specific group of “chosen people” do not get damaged. Bunkers, for protection during war, are manufactured and sold. The main U.S. supplier is out of them; Washington DC people have bought them up. Are our governing leaders afraid of the populace or of foreigners?
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Swayze,
This country is so far behind the eight ball when it comes to taking care of its residents! It is not just a “healthy lifestyle” that would cure all ailments of our healthcare system. Eating more fruit won’t eradicate the greed and corruption inside the insurance companies or the drug companies.
The US is ranked 37th in the world for health care services and 50th in the world for life expectancy. Obviously the private sector DOESN”T do it better! There are 47 million people that do not have proper health care coverage in this county. One was my father until he was able to gain coverage through medicare.
Since he was 21, he has been a Type I diabetic. Never overweight, never had any other health issues (although this is enought for anyone to endure). He exercises regularly and takes his health very seriously. In fact, just in the last year (at the age of 70) he had to get eye glasses. (which is a great accomplishment for having diabetes for nearly 50 years) His endrocrinologist tells him that he wishes he had more patients like him.
Here is the crux of my story, my father has NEVER been able to carry heath insurance of ANY kind because of his situation. Was this his fault..NO! And in the spring of 2008 he had to undergo a quadruple by-pass. This was a direct resulth of his diabetes..not his lifestyle. It could not be avoided, in fact, the doctors were amazed that he had gone this long without more heart issues. If my father had not had medicare, they would be so far in debt they would never get out. I cringe to think what the hospital would have done if my father at the age of 50 needed this surgery without insurance.
Have you ever asked yourself why the US is the ONLY developed country in the world that doesn’t provide some sort of national health care for its residents? It is a sad, sad fact. My husband is Australian, and in the 40 years he lived in Australia, he never once had to “wait in line” for any kind of health care. In fact, we have friends/famly in the UK, Canada and Australia. None of them would ever trade their health care for the US health care.
And its not just the health care, we don’t allow people to reduce stress in this country. Why are we also the only developed country that doesn’t allow for longer “down” time from work? Stress kills just as much, if not more than a less than ideal lifestyle.
We,as a country, need to change the way we view our citzens. Quit thinking “ME ME ME” and understand that there are people who need to be helped, not left aside to suffer because they didn’t have the knowledge or know how to change their circumstances.
I completely agree with Lou, we need health care reform and a lifestyle change in this county. Not one or the other.
Kimberly
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Lou Reply:
August 31st, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Well stated Kimberly-
All our people- children-parents- rich or power deserve a basic level of health that does not banckrupt our families and country as our present system of seemingly greed motivated insurance companies.
Lou
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Swayze Reply:
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:34 am
Why do you assume that I am thinking “me, me, me” just because I do not support public health care? How do you know that I am not helping people already of my own accord?
“Obviously the private sector DOESN”T do it better!”
The government already has a heavy hand in today’s health care system. The private sector is in no way running the show.
http://tinyurl.com/mjmu6o
That is very unfortunate for your father, but I do not believe that I or anyone else should be held accountable for it. By forcing others to pay, which is exactly what a nationalized system will do, you are treating them responsible. This is completely unfair and will only leave people disgruntled, unsympathetic, and ultimately less willing to support others of their own free will.
In fact, I believe more people would be willing to help others financially if they were not already being taxed out the “you know where.”
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Laurel Emmons Reply:
September 2nd, 2009 at 2:26 pm
That’s just the thing, Swayze, no one knows WHAT you’re doing. You could be paying for the entire United States health care system and no one would know it. However, with national care, everyone will know that everyone is pulling whatever weight they can.
I seriously cannot believe that you just said that man is not your responsibility. OMFG! What if it was your father? Your Brother? Your SON? How would you feel if people around you just threw up their hands and said, “Not my problem. Dude shoulda worked harder to make more money all his life.”
Oh, btw, I’m Canadian. So while this whole argument may seem as thought it’s none of my business, it totally is because of how “Canada & the bloody UK” get thrown around in conversation as examples of poor medical care.
Here’s how it is:
My hospital is clean. The nurses are friendly (I’ve never gone without an ACTUAL emergency, so I guess that’s why they seem so). My hospital is a learning hospital, meaning residents do most of the work and the doctors come around and check their work. EVERY TIME. Oh yeah, and the residents introduce themselves as students and ask if it’s okay for them to be working with you. I have taken both of my children to emergency at different times, and have never had an especially long wait time. I have a family doctor – and because I usually arrive just before my appointment, I usually get seen before my appointment. She is friendly, her office is clean, she is thorough, asks lots of questions, asks me if *I* have any questions, and calls for follow-up, “just to check in.”
The woman who lives next door to me is a single mom of two children. Her daughter was born with her intestines on the outside of her body, and spent 4 weeks in Ottawa’s Children’s Hospital. She didn’t have to “afford” this because I pay 35% of my income to taxes, and I feel good about it because that baby is 9 months old today, eating well, happy, and flourishing (with a mother who is not stressed because of medical debt).
Not my responsibility? Screw that. We are all each other’s responsibility, and it’s simply too disgusting to consider the alternative.
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Laurel Emmons Reply:
September 4th, 2009 at 5:58 am
@Mary Pardon me – I failed to mention that mine is a low-income family. Others pay higher rates of tax than we do.
Low-income (for now) and still willing to pay our share.
Kimberly Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 9:24 am
Swayze,
I can tell that you feel as though you have thought everything through…and great…. I hope that your entire life you never have to have your back up against a wall and need help in a major way that would take a “community” of people to assist you. Because in your world, its everyone for themselves.
You have lost a reader, I didn’t subscribe to this for your politcal views…I’ll get my information elsewhere.
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Mary Reply:
September 4th, 2009 at 1:25 am
The previous entry mentions that the Canadian tax is 35 percent. That is less than most people here pay. When we get our national politicians responding to national issues and letting States take care of state issues, our taxes will reduce, too. It is easier to control costs at a more local level, where people can more quickly petition their officials out of office and vote someone else in.
I like this method of a raw foods diet even if i don’t agree with all of the politics involved amongst the raw-food eaters/readers. I am so glad to hear positives about the Canadian system. I hear negatives a LOT.
Back in 2008, this Whole Foods, CEO John Mackey (how old is this kid?), was caught posting negative comments (trash talk) about a competitor on Yahoo Finance message boards in an effort to push down the stock price. So now I am suppose to take this loser seriously? Please, snore, snore.
It’s funny we hear Republicans say that they do not want “faceless bureaucrats” making medical decisions but they have no problem with “private sector” “faceless bureaucrats” daily declining medical coverage and financially ruining good hard working people (honestly where can they go with a pre-condition). And who says that the “private sector” is always right, do we forget failures like Long-Term Capital, WorldCom, Global Crossing, Enron, Tyco, AIG and Lehman Brothers. Of course the federal government will destroy heathcare by getting involved, Oh but wait, Medicare and Medicaid and our military men and women and the Senate and Congress get the best heathcare in the world, and oh, that’s right, its run by our federal government. I can understand why some may think that the federal government will fail, if you look at the past eight years as a current history, with failures like the financial meltdown and Katrina but the facts is they can and if we support them they will succeed.
How does shouting down to stop the conversation of the healthcare debate at town hall meetings, endears them to anyone. Especially when the organizations that are telling them where to go and what to do and say are Republicans political operatives, not real grassroots. How does shouting someone down or chasing them out like a “lynch mob” advanced the debate, it does not. So I think the American people will see through all of this and know, like the teabagger, the birthers, these lynch mobs types AKA “screamers” are just the same, people who have to resort to these tactics because they have no leadership to articulate what they real want. It’s easy to pickup a bus load of people who hate, and that’s all I been seeing, they hate and can’t debate. Too bad.
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Swayze Reply:
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:41 am
Even if that is true, why would you discredit anything else he says? First, we all make mistakes. Second, attack the message, not the person.
“And who says that the “private sector” is always right, do we forget failures like Long-Term Capital, WorldCom, Global Crossing, Enron, Tyco, AIG and Lehman Brothers.”
The private sector is not a “thing” or a “force.” It is individual people. Individuals take risks. Individuals make bad decisions. Individuals make mistakes. That’s life. The government can’t fix that.
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I think it is all relative. Personal responsibility is a sure thing. However, many Americans would not be willing to take personal responsibilities for most of the goods we have. Most of what we have are gained from the backs of others, usually developing nations. For example, most of the resources from the continent of Africa benefits the west. These same resources are used for our conviences. These conviences destroy our planet. We do not speak of our personal responsibilities when others are being exploited for our “good” only when it is for “our good.” Although I agree with what Mackey said on face value. However, I suspect he wold not write a Wall St Journal Op-Ed about our personal responsibility to save save our planet through the use of bicycles instead automobiles His philosophy supports his business. Also, I wonder if Mancky’s employees could afford to take personal responsibiliy and shop at whole foods on their whole foods salaries?
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Mary Reply:
September 1st, 2009 at 9:53 am
A lot of the world notices that we mine the planet and then throw things into dump heaps. At least that has gotten somewhat remedied through recycling. Money inequality is again at the root of this mining system. Labor inequality might be the better term, with mental labor included, and with responsibility not worshipped. Who does NOT have responsibilities on the job? We need the freedom to again fire people who do not take their job responsibilities seriously. And why pay someone 40 times more each day for taking responsibility?
I can see paying someone more, but not THAT much more. And talking about more: The main medical-cost issue, the one that keeps hospitals on the edge of going-broke, is the drug and medical- supplies people. Drug companies get grants and experiment in tax-free schools, then act like consumers have to pay for their work! Plus, we have side-effecs and recalls. Equipment manufacturers take known technologies and adapt them and then act like we need to pay them billions!
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Swayze Reply:
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:37 am
Actually, Whole Foods is known for paying its employees very well, far above the market average. Plus, they get employee discounts.
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Thanks for the great comments, guys!
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Your narcissistic love-affair with Mackey is naively blissed out and ignorant. For one thing, a raw foods diet isn’t for everyone (or anyone, in my opinion). For another thing, many diseases are genetic, or at least have genetic components. Also, if you believe cooked foods poison the country, then whole foods is doing a great job of contributing to that because Whole Foods just an overpriced grocery store (with more of the same), which promotes a different flavor of gluttony and desire.
Furthermore, promoting independence and self-reliance is a wonderful thing, but it’s not going to in REALITY decrease the costs of health care. So once you step out of your vague, esoteric ideals and get into the real world, we will still have problems and people will still be suffering needlessly, whether or not it’s their fault. Some people (day laborers, cashiers, etc.) are necessary for the survival and prosperity of our society, but we aren’t taking care of them.
If you were under different circumstances, you wouldn’t have written this.
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