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It blows me away that John Mackey, the founder of Whole Foods, frequently says that people need to eat healthier, and the twitterverse absolutely excoriates him

It blows me away that John Mackey, the founder of Whole Foods, frequently says that people need to eat healthier, and the twitterverse absolutely excoriates him. It's seriously disturbing. COVID is of course helping expose that we have run out of "real" problems and unlike any other time in history, people now have the option available to literally become fat, dumb, and lazy. I realize it's a touchy subject, but I think it's a mistake to not stigmatize obesity (not overweight but obese) the way we do smoking. Incentives matter...this might sound cruel, but have insurance stop covering health problems related to obesity and watch how quickly people stop eating McDonald's four times a week. Clearly I prefer a tough love approach on this issue.

slg 6y ago
>I realize it's a touchy subject, but I think it's a mistake to not stigmatize obesity (not overweight but obese) the way we do smoking I won't get a heart attack from your second hand obesity. There are a lot of other unsafe behaviors that have more severe negative externalities than obesity.
- bedhead 6y ago
  What about their children? Or do they not count? Does the cycle that creates count for nothing?
  - slg 6y ago
    Obesity isn't contagious and doesn't pose a direct threat to anyone but the obese person. This isn't true of numerous other harmful behaviors that have greater negative externalities. If you want to work to stigmatize bad parenting, be my guest. Obesity of a parent isn't a symptom of bad parenting.
  - nullsense 6y ago
    I think the cycle will be devastatingly hard to break once an entire country is fat.
- netizen-9748 6y ago
  What happens when you're in some sort of accident, need treatment, but that treatment is slowed because obese people are clogging the health care system?
  - slg 6y ago
    This is a bizarre hypothetical. Do you have any examples of someone in an acute medical emergency not receiving treatment because "obese people are clogging the health care system"? Also what about all the other people who are "clogging the health care system"? Does the drinker with liver problems? What about the cyclist who needs to have surgery to repair a compound fracture they got in an accident? How about the surfer who has skin cancer from being in the sun too much? What about all the old people in the health care system? Do you deserve medical attention over them? If the problem is not having capacity for medical system, let's build more capacity not stigmatize the people who need medical care.
    - netizen-9748 6y ago
      Is 73% of the population surfers? Or are 73% of Americans alcoholics? This is a very large percentage of the population that will increasingly encounter health issues within a healthcare system with an artificially capped number of physicians.
nullsense 6y ago
>unlike any other time in history, people now have the option available to literally become fat, dumb, and lazy It's incredible when you put it that way. Stated another way, at least in some parts of the world, our quality of life has gotten so high that we can now afford to lower it on purpose.
- bedhead 6y ago
  I was about to say in my post, "Our standard of living has become so high..." We have so many resources that for the first time in human history, this is actually a viable option for people. It's wild to think about. I wish you could travel back in time and explain this to someone a century ago, their brains could short circuit. Obesity is a symptom.
- Fricken 6y ago
  For most of human history our main problems have been related to scarcity. Now our problems are problems of abundance.
mytailorisrich 6y ago
The reaction to a message often depends on the messenger. My understanding is that Whole Foods is a premium supermarket, so perhaps some people feel he is being a bit out of touch with a large portion of the population. A bit like the famous "let them eat cake" suggestion...
Daho0n 6y ago
>I realize it's a touchy subject, but I think it's a mistake to not stigmatize obesity Where do we stop then? Depression can often be avoided or cured by changing to a more healthy lifestyle. Should those with depression and a not-so-healthy lifestyle also be stigmatized and have no health insurance?
- paledot 6y ago
  Depression should not be stigmatized, but neither should we turn a blind eye. Those suffering from depression and obesity should have access to the resources they need to tackle those issues, and should be encouraged to seek them out. And no one should be denied health insurance for any reason, obviously. (Unless you're proposing abolishing private health insurance completely, in which case yes please.)

slg 6y ago

>I realize it's a touchy subject, but I think it's a mistake to not stigmatize obesity (not overweight but obese) the way we do smoking I won't get a heart attack from your second hand obesity. There are a lot of other unsafe behaviors that have more severe negative externalities than obesity.

bedhead 6y ago
What about their children? Or do they not count? Does the cycle that creates count for nothing?
- slg 6y ago
  Obesity isn't contagious and doesn't pose a direct threat to anyone but the obese person. This isn't true of numerous other harmful behaviors that have greater negative externalities. If you want to work to stigmatize bad parenting, be my guest. Obesity of a parent isn't a symptom of bad parenting.
- nullsense 6y ago
  I think the cycle will be devastatingly hard to break once an entire country is fat.
netizen-9748 6y ago
What happens when you're in some sort of accident, need treatment, but that treatment is slowed because obese people are clogging the health care system?
- slg 6y ago
  This is a bizarre hypothetical. Do you have any examples of someone in an acute medical emergency not receiving treatment because "obese people are clogging the health care system"? Also what about all the other people who are "clogging the health care system"? Does the drinker with liver problems? What about the cyclist who needs to have surgery to repair a compound fracture they got in an accident? How about the surfer who has skin cancer from being in the sun too much? What about all the old people in the health care system? Do you deserve medical attention over them? If the problem is not having capacity for medical system, let's build more capacity not stigmatize the people who need medical care.
  - netizen-9748 6y ago
    Is 73% of the population surfers? Or are 73% of Americans alcoholics? This is a very large percentage of the population that will increasingly encounter health issues within a healthcare system with an artificially capped number of physicians.

nullsense 6y ago

>unlike any other time in history, people now have the option available to literally become fat, dumb, and lazy It's incredible when you put it that way. Stated another way, at least in some parts of the world, our quality of life has gotten so high that we can now afford to lower it on purpose.

bedhead 6y ago
I was about to say in my post, "Our standard of living has become so high..." We have so many resources that for the first time in human history, this is actually a viable option for people. It's wild to think about. I wish you could travel back in time and explain this to someone a century ago, their brains could short circuit. Obesity is a symptom.
Fricken 6y ago
For most of human history our main problems have been related to scarcity. Now our problems are problems of abundance.

mytailorisrich 6y ago

The reaction to a message often depends on the messenger. My understanding is that Whole Foods is a premium supermarket, so perhaps some people feel he is being a bit out of touch with a large portion of the population. A bit like the famous "let them eat cake" suggestion...

Daho0n 6y ago

>I realize it's a touchy subject, but I think it's a mistake to not stigmatize obesity Where do we stop then? Depression can often be avoided or cured by changing to a more healthy lifestyle. Should those with depression and a not-so-healthy lifestyle also be stigmatized and have no health insurance?

paledot 6y ago
Depression should not be stigmatized, but neither should we turn a blind eye. Those suffering from depression and obesity should have access to the resources they need to tackle those issues, and should be encouraged to seek them out. And no one should be denied health insurance for any reason, obviously. (Unless you're proposing abolishing private health insurance completely, in which case yes please.)