The Hill
Whole Foods CEO: ObamaCare is “more like fascism”
“Technically speaking, it’s more like fascism,” Mackey said of the Affordable Care Act. “Socialism is where the government owns the means of production. In fascism, the government doesn’t own the means of production, but they do control it, and that’s what’s happening with our healthcare programs and these reforms.”
The term “fascism” was first used to describe the right-wing regime of Italian leader Benito Mussolini, and was later applied to the Nazis and the authoritarian leadership of Francisco Franco in Spain.
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Mussolini was not ‘right-wing’. In fact most of his policies are indistinguishable from American liberal policy preferences.
gwelf on January 16, 2013 at 12:03 PM
I’ve been saying this for a couple years now.
Othniel on January 16, 2013 at 12:03 PM
After the failure of fully socialist/communist nations the statists realized that when they control everything they get the blame for when things fall apart. Now they’re more savvy and they don’t want direct control – better to have someone in the ‘private’ sector ‘run’ institutions and companies and control and regulate their behavior. When things go horribly wrong (e.g., housing bust) then you can blame the private sector and corporate greed and keep right on going.
gwelf on January 16, 2013 at 12:06 PM
I’m having trouble keeping these guys straight. Was this one FOR President Arugula or not? Because it makes a difference to me.
vityas on January 16, 2013 at 12:06 PM
Close enough. Welcome to the party, pal.
locomotivebreath1901 on January 16, 2013 at 12:06 PM
I can easily visualize Pelosi, Reed, Obama, & the other suspects, all in Mao suits.
Blake on January 16, 2013 at 12:07 PM
The word fascism is commonly conflated and confused with totalitarianism. The former is an economic system, the latter a political arrangement.
They’re not the same thing, although fascism is an economic system that some totalitarians prefer.
Oh well. Making this distinction and urging people to consider the definitions of terms they use in political discussion makes one a crazy wingnut these days.
Good Lt on January 16, 2013 at 12:09 PM
Wow… Lots of “White People” are going to have to choose between their undying support of their Lord and Messiah and fresh arugala.
Illinidiva on January 16, 2013 at 12:09 PM
While everyone was writing down ‘Ryan’ as possible VP nominees this past Fall, I was probably the only one writing in John Mackey.
Notorious GOP on January 16, 2013 at 12:11 PM
Big GOP donor I believe which is kind of amusing as Whole Foods markets are very popular with dirty commies.
CorporatePiggy on January 16, 2013 at 12:12 PM
Not fast enough I’m afraid. Short of nationwide riots, which are coming anyway when the welfare money runs out, I really do not know what will turn millions of cowards into race-realists.
MelonCollie on January 16, 2013 at 12:13 PM
At the very least they’re a big name among the chintzy ‘green’ suburban liberals and modern hippies.
MelonCollie on January 16, 2013 at 12:13 PM
Kudos to John Mackey.
Too bad I don’t want to spend my whole paycheck on groceries.
22044 on January 16, 2013 at 12:13 PM
Mussolini was not “right-wing.” He was just as much a Socialist as his ally in NAtionalist SOcialist Germany. In fact, there is no such thing as a “right wing” dictator. All forms of totaltarianism eminates from the left.
Ace ODale on January 16, 2013 at 12:15 PM
He’s correct of course, but he can expect a visit from the Ministry of Love seeking further explanation.
forest on January 16, 2013 at 12:19 PM
Fascism? Lol, and the constant rhetoric about Socialism. The relatively young don’t recognize that rhetoric. Its not even understandable by them. Try better and more relevant catchphrases.
tommy71 on January 16, 2013 at 12:20 PM
Doubleplusungood?
“Twinkies down”, maybe?
Sod off.
MelonCollie on January 16, 2013 at 12:21 PM
He came out before against Obamacare, and the liberals were going to boycott Whole Foods until they figured out they wouldn’t be able to feed themselves.
John the Libertarian on January 16, 2013 at 12:23 PM
As usual, liberals don’t know the meaning of the words they use. (Just like in the gun debate.) They don’t know what fascism means, they just know how they feel about it, and they don’t feel that way about Obama so he can’t be a fascist. I guess this is the next step in literacy education after they got rid of phonics and went to “whole word” reading: now they don’t need any dictionaries in schools, children just need to find out how they feel about the words.
Socratease on January 16, 2013 at 12:26 PM
Well DUH
gophergirl on January 16, 2013 at 12:27 PM
@Melon Same to you.
tommy71 on January 16, 2013 at 12:29 PM
I shop at Whole Foods regularly. I will continue to do so.
Guy Benson on January 16, 2013 at 12:29 PM
This is the way that mentally retarded people “define” words.
Barack Hussein Obama fervently practices Fascism, Communism and Socialism. But none of those terms can be applied to him in polite company, because they’ve all been declared dirty words. As defined by the liberal media, all of those words mean precisely the same thing a three-year-old child means when she calls someone “a poo-poo head.”
Liberalism is subjectivism; the substitution of ego for rational thought. Liberals all believe in government coersion and ownership of businesses, as well as redistribution of wealth – just like every Facist, Socialist and Communist in history did. But liberals consider themselves to be GOOD people; and they blythely assume that everyone in the past who pursued what they referred to as “the greatest good for the most people” must have thought of themselves as BAD. So that’s why it will work out totally different this time around.
logis on January 16, 2013 at 12:29 PM
Getalife.
MelonCollie on January 16, 2013 at 12:32 PM
I don’t think that you got the joke. By “White People” I was talking about upper middle class yuppies in places like NYC and Chicago. It is a joke based on the “Stuff White People Like” Book in 2008. You don’t need to be Caucasian to be a “White Person”. For instance, Barry is definitely a “White Person.” All you need is the love of an expensive lifestyle combined with extra snobbery, disdain toward others, and undying support for liberalism. Hypocrisy + arrogance.
Most “White People” love Whole Foods because it is exclusive and overpriced. They also are card carrying Barry cultists. So when the Whole Foods CEO makes capitalist noises, they’re faced with an existential crisis.. What is more important – overpriced organic veggies or undying worship toward their Lord and Messiah?
Illinidiva on January 16, 2013 at 12:32 PM
Ohhhkay. I think I got it now.
MelonCollie on January 16, 2013 at 12:33 PM
You’re probably right. Rather than using accurate terms and trying to educate people, it would be more effective to focus group “catchphrases” and emotional appeals that resonate with morons. It works for the Obama Campaign.
forest on January 16, 2013 at 12:34 PM
Wow… You’re not glued to the TV. After all, Your Lord and Messiah is currently using little kids to shamelessly exploit a tragedy and circumvent the Constitution in order to punish all those “Bitter Clingers” that didn’t vote for him.
Illinidiva on January 16, 2013 at 12:35 PM
Live under the laws you pass.
YOU, the creatures in the WH, go on Obama’care’, then the populace will watch how it works.
It should get multi-million signatures, if the people are not sheeple.
Same goes for congress, with zero exceptions.
Schadenfreude on January 16, 2013 at 12:38 PM
@Melon I have a good life. What I mentioned were truths. Truth is bitter, ain’t it? Lol
tommy71 on January 16, 2013 at 12:38 PM
Listen to how liberals speak directly — before it gets filtered through a dozen editors — they don’t COMPARE George Bush to Adolph Hitler. They don’t compile any lists of similarities. They simply conflate: they don’t say George Bush (or whoever happens to be the current leading conservative figure at the moment) isn’t like Hitler; to them, George Bush IS Hitler.
To people who see reality in terms of its effect on their emotions, that’s how the world works. George Bush makes them feel bad; Adolph Hitler makes them feel bad. To the liberal mind, the two figures aren’t similar in any particular characteristic; they aren’t even precisely identical twins. They, along with all the evil conservatives in the world, just meld into one single, fuzzy, contiguous blob of “badness.”
logis on January 16, 2013 at 12:40 PM
You wouldn’t know truth if it hit you in your lying mouth.
Enlighten us with some better phrases for the uninformed youth, trolltard. Maybe “really really really bad people” would work on those too lazy to look up “Socialist” in the dictionary.
MelonCollie on January 16, 2013 at 12:41 PM
@Illinidiva For your kind information, I ain’t a prog. Lol
tommy71 on January 16, 2013 at 12:41 PM
Lie #2.
MelonCollie on January 16, 2013 at 12:41 PM
@forest You’re absolutely right.
tommy71 on January 16, 2013 at 12:45 PM
@Melon You’re on a roll. Lol. In many threads, we’ve been allies. Perhaps you’ve forgotten. I haven’t. I just speak the truth. Period. The far left and far right would obviously hate it. Lol.
tommy71 on January 16, 2013 at 12:50 PM
You certainly sound like one… And this is coming from a squishy Republican.
Illinidiva on January 16, 2013 at 12:51 PM
Just as the liberal handbook 1984 says: He who controls words controls everything. The goal of substituting catchphrases for definitions is not to advance any particular idea. In fact, precisely the opposite, the goal of collectivist language is to delete thought from public discourse altogether.
When catchphrases are substituted for definitions, there is no way of comparing ideas. All that matters is who screams with the most self-righteous fervor. And that’s a game that the people who have now perversely started referring to themselves as “liberals” will always win.
logis on January 16, 2013 at 12:53 PM
For the record, I shop at Whole Foods for the produce and meat. It’s superior to the 3-4 other local markets. Yes, it is more expensive but the extra cost is worth it to me. Such is the glory of the free market. For everything else I shop elsewhere.
visions on January 16, 2013 at 12:54 PM
At last, someone correctly expressing the crucial economic traits of fascism, instead of just using the word to attack those they don’t agree with (as liberals are prone to do).
Sharke on January 16, 2013 at 12:54 PM
Here’s a foolproof tell: People who “define” themselves only in terms of what they AREN’T are always liberals.
logis on January 16, 2013 at 12:57 PM
@Illinidiva, we sparred many a time. Especially over Rubio. Doesn’t matter, I suggested that the GOP rhetoric has gotten old. They need to revamp it, pronto. Just the truth.
tommy71 on January 16, 2013 at 12:58 PM
I’ve learned my lesson not to unnecessarily step into donnybrooks here at HA, but I back tommy71 when he says he’s not a prog.
OK…stepping out now…
22044 on January 16, 2013 at 1:01 PM
Whole Foods’ blackened chicken wraps are to die for. You will not be disappointed.
CrustyB on January 16, 2013 at 1:06 PM
Oh I love Whole Foods as well. Their produce and meat is yummy. However, I was just mocking the whole “White People” MO. They’d shop there even if the food was awful because it is overpriced and green.
Which is why I think that you’re a leftist troll.. Frankly, you think that the Republican party is doomed to failure and have said so with apparent glee in your posts.
Illinidiva on January 16, 2013 at 1:07 PM
Didn’t Whole Foods support OWS?
lucyvanpelt on January 16, 2013 at 1:10 PM
@Illinidiva You’re 100% wrong. No glee here. The pubs have to be strong and united. The catastropic leftward drift is not good for our nation. Anyway, thats your viewpoint. To me, being real, practical, and winning, matters. Simple as that.
tommy71 on January 16, 2013 at 1:17 PM
22044, thanks for your subtle support. It was unexpected, but kind.
tommy71 on January 16, 2013 at 1:19 PM
Ummm…. And we do this by nominating Krispy Kreme or Jon Huntsman… aka the Democrat approved “sane Republicans”?
Illinidiva on January 16, 2013 at 1:29 PM
All the best!
22044 on January 16, 2013 at 1:36 PM
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