If you haven’t heard, the owner of Whole Foods, John Mackey, just wrote an editorial for the Wall St. Journal that essentially blames all of our health problems on diet and states that health care is not a human right. The bigotry exhibited is outstanding. Apparently if you have any illness then you are to blame for doing something wrong. Mackey is oh so smart and healthy so I’m sure he is 100% going to avoid any sort of chronic disease. This is not a far cry from societal cleansing. Let the sick die because they are stupid. I guess children born to mothers who are obese, which makes them more insulin resistant from the get-go, should somehow overcome the food their parents provide them. How likely is a 5-12 year old to tell Mom and Dad that he wants lean meats, fruits, and vegetables? Mackey also might not realize the cheapest food per calorie – candy bars. Mackey’s view is sickening, but it represents a large portion of America who still believe that they have succeeded because of their own hard work. This crowd probably includes most of Whole Foods shoppers. Not many realize the head start they received. Ever since Carnegie, Americans have believed in the American dream. Not to burst the bubble, but it’s largely an illusion. For those who have risen from the bottom then congratulations, but is that reason enough to lord it over those who for various reasons have failed to rise in society?

Whole Foods has always been a compromise between big business and sustainability anyways. Their prices are ridiculous and they still get most of their food from places far around the world. I haven’t been in awhile because it seems pointless. If I want food that needs tons of gasoline to get here I’ll just go to Publix or Trader Joe’s. Not that Whole Foods doesn’t get a few things right. The variety is nice, but the whole concept is misleading. If you really want to support food reform then shop at a local Farmer’s Market. Understandably, many cannot take that route because it is difficult and expensive.

Obviously we could stand to get a lot healthier as a nation, but not at the cost of human dignity. Mackey sacrificed his and hopefully at least some people stop shopping there.

So the 2nd leading story online at ajc.com last week was about a man having sex with his dog. This is a bad sign. Perhaps this is why the AJC has so few quality stories – nobody reads them. Another issue dominating the news is the Beer Summit with Obama, Gates, and Crowley. While it is kind of neat that our president sat down to have a beer with the guys, we certainly have more important things to worry about. Yes, the matter was handled horribly and yes, racism still exists in quantities far larger than most imagine. The particulars about this case mean little. The guy is a Harvard professor, he’ll be alright.

More important is the treatment low-income people receive at the hands of police officers, at least here in Atlanta. Human beings deserve to be treated as such, no matter their color or class. Of course it will be hard to learn to live with each other when we generally try to stay as separate as possible. Generally there are black places, white places, latino places, Asian places, and so on. Every time I go into the Publix near the Historically Black College area, I am the only white person there. Every time I go to Alpharetta for anything, spotting a black person is rare. Even in Atlanta the races stay away from each other for the most part. Is this an inherent trait? When one is never exposed to anybody or anything different from what they know, at the very least it breeds unfamilairity, which easily leads to distrust.

People do want to spend time with others that share their views and experiences, which is understandable, but the degree we have now seems extreme.