[lbo-talk] decentralization, Whole Foods style

[Shane Taylor]

kelley wrote:
> aside from that, i think the point was that Whole Foods
> supposedly prides itself on offering what the other
> outfits don't offer and that is, supposedly, some sort of
> caring concern about the environment and such. while
> they can see that we're all "connected" in terms of
> environmental issues, there's a disjuncture between
> "them" the great unwashed who want and believe in
> unions and the power of unions to "connect" us.
>
> they are anti-union in a covert, insidious way and it's
> that much harder to get at and fight.
>
> personally, this is what i would expect from Whole Foods.
> Ithaca was full of this kind of snarky inability to link
> their pet "progressive" "green" concerns with more
> traditional workers' issues. 

Exactly.  The reason it reminded me of One Market Under God was the part
covering business revolutionary Anita Roddick's bs about her Body Shop. 
She's an entrepreneur who believes in "democracy at work".  And her shops
are just too radical for stodgy, crotchety old unions.

One major point of One Market Under God is that, today, old fashioned
anti-Communism or Trad Vals aren't required for a populist backlash
against unions and for the free market.  Whole Foods adopts the socially
conscious variety of this.  Superficially, it's a quirky, amusing
rationale for union busting.  It's easy to dismiss as an aberration.  But
it's effective and will be less funky the more familiar it becomes.

-- Shane

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