We Don't Need Another Hero

I'm blaming the coffee this morning. But almost every day, I have an "I told you so" story and I'm too smart to say it out loud, but I knew it! I guess it's good no one reads my blog because I don't think I'm going to be very popular with this one.
John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, published an op ed in the Wall Street Journal about his Libertarian solution for providing health care to employees. He has a plan, and it seems to work for his employees, but he doesn't support universal healthcare coverage, and that would make him a people-hating, non-humanitarian ogre. This is the same man whose stores appeal to rich, liberal folks who are maniacally concerned about eating eco-friendly food and putting only organic ingredients in their sacred bodies. And they pay through the nose for that. If you go to Boulder, Colorado, you'll see. The parking lot if full 24 hours a day, and most of the people that I know won't shop anywhere else, because only Whole Foods represents their values and belief systems and shopping there is part of "who they are." Where they get the money, I do not know, but lucky them because Whole Foods is beautiful and it has great food.
So now, predictably, his customers are up in arms because they now know that their homeland doesn't really represent them politically. The same "Obama is god and can do no wrong" crowd who frequent Whole Foods are beside themselves.
Here's an interesting suggestion: Shop at Walmart. If you're so concerned with the poor, support the store that supports them. Outrageous, huh? Not gonna be seen in a disgusting Walmart with the disgusting people who shop there. Okay, Walmart's not a supermarket, but you get my drift. Hypocrisy annoys me.
Some might say that John Mackey is the hypocrit. I disagree. I think John Mackey is a smart businessman who knows what appeals to his customers and it shouldn't really matter what his philosophical or political beliefs are if his employees are happy, and from what I hear, they are. If he doesn't want to offer a national healthcare policy to his employees, so what? They have coverage! Good coverage, I imagine. Shit, I want a job at Whole Foods.
Here's the problem. We have become a country of hero worshippers. We expect everyone in a position of power to reflect our views and be all-around great guys. Like Obama. He's an all around great guy and we love that, and consequently, we feel like we have to agree with everything he says. There's no objectivity anymore. Obama can be a great guy and we can still disagree with some of his political views. He's our president, not our lover. Though I know many women (and men) who would probably prefer he be their lover.
John Mackey is an Ayn Rand follower. When I was in college, it was very en vogue to be an Ayn Rand scholar. Everyone was reading Atlas Shrugged. I even know a guy who had matchbooks printed saying, "Who is John Galt?" These same people grew up to be lawyers and doctors, make a lot of money and shop at Whole Foods. There's a disconnect there somewhere, but I'm not sure where. There's an upswing in the sale of Ayn Rand books these days. Maybe secretly John Mackey's not alone?
Anyway, my point is, individuals are complex and have many different sides to them. They are not entities that represent everything that we are. If we like a product, or a store, or an athlete, we needn't expect them to represent us in all capacities. Should Michael Vick play football? Sure, he's a despicable, disgusting person, but he served his sentence and legally can return to his profession. Maybe we shouldn't pay our athletes so much. Maybe that's the issue. I don't expect anything from him as a human being. I don't expect anything from any athlete as a human being. For that matter, I don't expect anything from any politician as a human being. Perhaps we can stop raising our kids to worship people who are just doing a job. Perhaps we can have the confidence in ourselves and our own beliefs to not need "famous" people to speak for us.
We don't need another hero.
Uh oh, how many friends did I just lose?