Monsanto's Forcing GMOs on Us Is Disgusting, But It's a Symptom of a Larger Problem
I’m happy to note that my brother Geoff’s side of the Shields family is vigorously checking out the Monsanto/GMO issue. My nephew Tyler (pictured here left of Geoff) is passing around a film documentary on the subject. Way to go, Ty!
I haven’t watched this, though I did see “Patent for a Pig,” which covers the same subject, and is extremely well made.
Yes, it’s deplorable that Monsanto is putting its profits above the health and safety of the world’s people. But the real culprit, by my way of thinking, is a legal system that enables this. Let me ask you:
• Is most of the food you eat genetically modified? Yes. Is that a good thing? Probably not, though to be honest, I’m not sure. But I’m quite sure of this: Neither you nor your elected representative had anything whatsoever to do with making that decision; it was made by Monsanto and ADM.
• Who made our national policies in healthcare? Although the vast majority of Americans (and their doctors) favor universal healthcare, the big pharmaceutical and insurance companies create the policies that determine who gets healthcare and how they get it.
• What about energy and transportation? As we’ve discussed so often here, I urge you to ask: who created the terrain of the playing field on which oil and coal receive several times the subsidies that are given to renewable energy? The energy industry itself did, with its hundreds of lobbyists who control every thought and every breath of the Congress you think is working for your best interests.
As long as the U.S. Supreme Court decision “Citizens United” is the law of the land, and corporations are empowered to spend as much as they wish in order to influence our elections, we can expect Monsanto (in food), and the other mega-powers in their respective industries to control the entirety of the legislation and regulation that governs them.
If you don’t think that’s a good idea, and you want to get involved, I urge you to check out MoveToAmend.org and support the reform efforts spearheaded by Bernie Sanders (I-VT) called “Saving American Democracy.”
And Tyler: Keep up the good work, my young friend.
Craig,
In your plethora of complaints, you make several wildly inaccurate assertions, which are just populist urban myths.
Monsanto, like Big Oil, is a favorite whipping boy for leftist propagandists.
1) Monsanto is not alone in the production of Genetically Modified Food. Thousands of laboratories, and companies, all over the world are hard at work researching genetic technology. (Including State owned, or funded, organizations).
All new science can have less than noble applications, as Alfred Nobel himself discovered!
Genetically modified food, can relieve the suffering of millions of human beings, save water, enhance the environment, remove harmful aspects, lower the price of food, aid pest control, reduce desertification,etc, etc..
GM technology may possibly solve our planets energy problems.
But GM R&D is not cheap. Companies like Monsanto spend billions on projects that never prove practical, in order to achieve one profitable product. The investors in these companies do not risk their investment capital as an act of philanthropy ! They expect a suitable return.
No investors, no GM R&D ! No R&D, no betterment for mankind !
Which is fine, if you are living in an affluent nation, with access to abundant resources and lots of luxury choices. For the rest of the world, GM technology can mean the only way out of poverty, turmoil, and despair !
The allegation that Monsanto can ‘own’, genes as such, is absurd. Even if the US patent office agreed, can you imagine the PRC, Russia, and other nations abiding by such restrictions ?!
(the Swiss patent office has already ruled that any genetic discovery, must have a practical application, and that application alone can qualify for a patent.)
Monsanto, or any other organization, is quite entitled to charge for the use of it’s research material.
2) Your castigation of the Oil Industry for receiving several times the subsidies of alternate energy, is equally absurd!
After all the huffing and puffing about Oil industry subsidies, Pres. Obama was only able to identify $ 2.7 billion. Most of these were arcane subsidies to very small companies in unusual circumstance, but the majority were simply tax credits common to all industries.
These ‘subsidies’ are miniscule in comparison to the economic activity of America’s biggest taxpayer, the Oil Industry ! (the Oil Industry also pay’s the highest rate of tax!).
If the Oil was so efficient at lobbying, how is it that the totally unsustainable Ethanol industry received, billions in direct subsidies, and no relies upon a ‘Mandated Usage’ to remain viable ?
Solar and Wind lack economic viability.
Apart from the traditional Hydro and Nuclear options, the only economically viable alternate power generation, Geo-thermal, was largely abandon by governments, and would have languished forgotten, except for the billions of dollars poured in by Chevron Oil ! Chevron is the world’s leading private champion of Geo-thermal technology.
Although driven out by price competition from the PRC, since 1972 until 2008, BP spent billions on solar development. Long before any government seized on solar energy as a vote winner.
How is this consistent with your bogyman theories ?
Dividing society up into simplistic ‘Good’ and ‘Evil’, organizations, is unhelpful !
We all live in incomprehensibly complex civilization.Those preaching simplistic, unworkable ‘solutions’, are not helping anyone, but their own populist agenda.
If you feel that the law is wrong, it’s simple !
Persuade your fellow citizens to change the law. That’s representative government. But, first you have to understand exactly what it is that you are wanting to change.
In PRINCIPAL I don’t object to GM crops. However, I do object to certain aspects of Monsanto’s behavior.
Monsanto has attempted, successfully in some cases, to force farmers who do not buy Monsanto’s seeds to pay for the GM seeds anyway on the basis that the farmers are profiting from the GM seeds because the GM pollen drifts onto their fields. One need not look very far to find other unacceptable behaviors of Monsanto.