Retiring Whole Foods CEO John Mackey’s biggest fears aren’t 40-year-high inflation, rising food costs or supply chain issues: it’s socialism infecting younger generations.
“My concern is that I feel like socialists are taking over,” the 59-year-old told the libertarian magazine Reason. “They’re marching through the institutions. They’re taking over education. It looks like they’ve taken over a lot of the corporations. It looks like they’ve taken over the military.”
Mr. Mackey, who’s bidding adieu to the high-end grocery store chain owned by Amazon at the end of September, said the world should expect to hear a lot more about his political views the day he retires. He said he’s been “muzzled” ever since he penned an anti-Obamacare op-ed in 2009 in the Wall Street Journal.
“That created a huge controversy, and my board basically shut me down. It’s like a father, they started attacking the child, and I was intimidated enough to shut up,” Mr. Mackey said. “I was telling my leadership team, ’pretty soon, you’re going to be hearing about crazy John, who’s no longer muzzled and you’re going to have to say, we can’t stop John from talking any longer.’”
Beyond immersing himself in political debate, Mr. Mackey said he’ll turn to other business ventures, such as opening a string of wellness centers and cafes.
“I’m a capitalist at heart, and I believe in liberty and capitalism. Those are my twin values,” he said. “I feel like, with the way freedom of speech is today, the movement on gun control, a lot of the liberties that I’ve taken for granted most of my life, are under threat.”
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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