230. Why must we against Monsanto—the Spearhead of GE, GMO
Move Over, God, the Biotech Companies Are Here
by Vandana Shiva
กระเถิบออกไป,
พระเจ้า, บริษัทไบโอเทค อยู่ที่นี่แล้ว
โดย วันทนา ศิวะ
ดรุณี ตันติวิรมานนท์ แปล
Technologies are tools for doing or making things. They are
a means to transform what nature has given into food, clothing, shelter, means
of mobility, means of communication. Technology is a means to an end; it is not
an end in itself.
เทคโนโลยี
เป็นเครื่องมือสำหรับทำงาน หรือ ทำสิ่งของ.
มันเป็นวิธีการพลิกผันสิ่งที่ธรรมชาติได้ให้เรา ให้กลายเป็นอาหาร,
เครื่องนุ่งห่ม, ที่อยู่อาศัย, หนทางเพื่อการเคลื่อนไหว,
หนทางเพื่อการคมนาคมและสื่อสาร. เทคโนโลยี
เป็นมรรควิถี นำสู่เป้าหมาย; มันไม่ใช่เป้าหมายด้วยตัวของมันเอง.
But when we stop perceiving technology as a means mediating
between nature and human needs and elevate it to an end in itself, we falsely
give it the status of a religion. The Green Revolution bred seeds to respond to
chemical fertilizers — they were called “miracle seeds”. The father of the
Green Revolution, Norman Borlaug, called the 12 people he sent across the world
to spread chemicals by introducing new seeds his “wheat apostles”. This is the
discourse of religion, not of science and technology.
แต่เมื่อไรที่เราหยุดมองเทคโนโลยีว่าเป็นมรรควิถี
ที่เชื่อมระหว่างธรรมชาติกับความต้องการของมนุษย์ และ
ยกให้มันเป็นเป้าหมายในตัวเองแล้ว, ก็เป็นมิจฉาทิฐิของเรา
ที่ยกมันขึ้นในระดับศาสนา. ปฏิวัติเขียว
ได้ผสมพันธุ์เมล็ดที่ตอบสนองต่อปุ๋ยเคมี—แล้วเรียกมันว่า “เมล็ดมหัศจรรย์”. บิดาของปฏิวัติเขียว, นอร์แมน บอร์ลาฟ, เรียก 12
คน ที่เขาส่งออกไปทั่วโลกให้แพร่กระจายเคมีภัณฑ์
ด้วยการแนะนำเมล็ดใหม่ว่าเป็น “สาวกข้าวสาลี”.
นี่เป็นวาทกรรมของศาสนา, ไม่ใช่ของวิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี.
When the Green Revolution was introduced in India in
1965-66, no assessment was made of the impact chemical fertilizer will have on
soil organisms, soil structure and the soil’s water-holding capacity. No
attempt was made to compare the yields of Green Revolution varieties and the
outputs of indigenous varieties and mixed farming system. When we started to
conserve native seeds through the Navdanya movement in 1987, we found many of
the indigenous varieties outperformed the Green Revolution varieties in grain
yield. They also outperformed them in total biomass yield — this really matters
because while the grain is eaten by humans, straw is food for soil organisms
and farm animals. Our work on mixtures and biodiverse systems of farming shows
that as a system, indigenous biodiversity produces more food and nutrition per
acre.
เมื่อปฏิวัติเขียว
ถูกนำเข้าสู่อินเดียในปี พ.ศ. ๒๕๐๘-๐๙, ไม่มีการประเมินถึงผลกระทบของปุ๋ยเคมีที่จะเกิดขึ้นต่อสิ่งมีชีวิตในดิน,
โครงสร้างของดิน และ สมรรถนะในการอมน้ำของดิน.
ไม่มีความพยายามใดๆ ที่จะเปรียบเทียบผลผลิตจากพันธุ์ของปฏิวัติเขียว และ
ผลลัพธ์จากพันธุ์พื้นเมืองดั้งเดิม และ ระบบเกษตรผสมผสาน.
เมื่อเราเริ่มอนุรักษ์เมล็ดพื้นเมืองผ่านขบวนการนวธัญญะ ในปี พ.ศ.๒๕๓๐,
เราพบว่า พันธุ์พื้นเมืองมากมาย เจริญเติบโต ให้ผลผลิตได้ดีกว่าพันธุ์ปฏิวัติเขียวมาก. มันยังให้ผลทางชีวมวลรวมมากกว่าด้วย—นี่เป็นสิ่งสำคัญ
เพราะมนุษย์กินเมล็ด/ผล, สิ่งมีชีวิตในดิน และ สัตว์เลี้ยง กินฟาง.
งานของเราในระบบเกษตรผสมผสานและหลากหลายทางชีวภาพ ได้แสดงให้เห็นว่า
ในลักษณะระบบ, ความหลากหลายทางชีวภาพดั้งเดิม ผลิตอาหารและสารอาหารต่อเอเคอร์
ได้มากกว่า.
If we had a scientific approach to making choices about the
technologies we use to produce our food, agroecology would win hands down. But
the Green Revolution is promoted blindly as a religion, and not on the basis of
science. Why else would finance minister P. Chidambaram announce in his Budget
speech that the Green Revolution, which has destroyed the soil, water,
biodiversity of Punjab, would now be expanded to eastern India?
หากเรามีแนวทางเชิงวิทยาศาสตร์
เพื่อเลือกใช้เทคโนโลยี เพื่อผลิตอาหารของเรา, เกษตรนิเวศ จะชนะเรียบ. แต่ปฏิวัติเขียว
ถูกส่งเสริมอย่างงมงายให้เป็นศาสนา, และ ไม่ใช้พื้นฐานวิทยาศาสตร์. ไม่เช่นนั้น ทำไมเล่า รัฐมนตรีการคลัง
พี.จิดัมบาราม ถึงได้ประกาศในปาฐกถางบประมาณว่า ปฏิวัติเขียว, ที่ได้ทำลายดิน,
น้ำ, ความหลากหลายทางชีวภาพของปัญจาบ,
จะต้องขยายไปยังภาคตะวันออกของอินเดียตอนนี้?
Is the government trying to impose the cancer epidemic of
Punjab on Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa and Jharkhand? Does it want to deplete and
poison the waters of eastern India like it did to the waters of Punjab? Does it
want the rich biodiversity of eastern India to disappear like the biodiversity
of Punjab has disappeared to create monocultures of rice and wheat?
รัฐบาลกำลังยัดเยียดโรคระบาดมะเร็งแห่งรัฐปัญจาบ
ให้รัฐ พิหาร, เบงกอลตะวันตก, โอริสสา และ จาร์ขันท์หรือ? มันต้องการผลาญน้ำ และ
ทำให้น้ำเป็นพิษในอินเดียตะวันออก
เหมือนกับที่มันได้ทำกับน้ำในรัฐปัญจาบหรือ?
มันต้องการทำให้ความหลากหลายทางชีวภาพอันอุดมสมบูรณ์ในอินเดียตะวันออกหายสาบสูญไป
เหมือนกับ ความหลากหลายทางชีวภาพในรัฐปัญจาบที่สูญหายไป
เพื่อเปิดทางให้พืชเชิงเดี่ยวของข้าวและข้าวสาลี?
In the language of doublespeak, through a “memorandum of
understanding” with biotech corporation Monsanto, the Punjab government is now
introducing hybrid maize in the name of “diversification”. Substituting one
monoculture with another is not diversification, putting more diversity on our
farms is. More than 75 per cent of hybrid maize goes for industrial use,
especially animal feed. This is not a food system to reduce the hunger of
people; it is a system to supply profits for the insatiable greed of
corporations and industry. While feeding the hungry is the mantra, the real
religion is greed.
ในภาษาของการพูดสำเนา,
ผ่านการทำ “บันทึกความเข้าใจ” กับบรรษัทไบโอเทค มอนซานโต, รัฐบาลปัญจาบ ตอนนี้
กำลังนำเข้า ข้าวโพดพันธุ์ผสม ภายใต้ข้ออ้างของ “การสร้างความหลากหลาย”. การแทนที่พืชเชิงเดี่ยวหนึ่ง ด้วยอีกตัวหนึ่ง
ไม่ใช่การสร้างความหลากหลาย, แต่การคืนความหลากหลายในฟาร์มของเรา ใช่. ข้าวโพดพันธุ์ผสมกว่า 75% ถูกลำเลียงไปเพื่อการใช้ในอุตสาหกรรม,
โดยเฉพาะ อาหารสัตว์.
นี่ไม่ใช่ระบบอาหารเพื่อลดความหิวโหยของประชาชน; มันเป็นระบบอุปทานกำไร
ป้อนความโลภที่ถมไม่เต็มของบรรษัทและอุตสาหกรรม.
ในขณะที่ การเลี้ยงผู้หิวโหยเป็นมนตราที่ร่าย, ศาสนาตัวจริงคือ ความตะกละโลภ.
Genetic engineering is the latest technology being imposed
on India and the world as the new miracle. There are only three groups of GMO
(genetically modified organisms) applications — Bt crops that are supposed to
control pests, herbicide resistant crops that are supposed to control weeds,
and future promises of biofortification in the form of Golden Rice for
addressing Vitamin A deficiency, and GMO bananas for removing iron deficiency.
วิศวพันธุกรรม
เป็นเทคโนโลยีล่าสุด ที่กำลังถูกยัดเยียดใส่อินเดีย และ โลก
ในฐานะที่เป็นความมหัศจรรย์ชิ้นใหม่.
มีการประยุกต์ใช้ จีเอ็มโอ (สิ่งมีชีวิตที่ผ่านการตัดแต่งทางพันธุกรรม) เพียงสามกลุ่ม—พืช
บีที ที่คาดว่าจะต้านแมลง, พืชที่มียาฆ่าวัชพืชในตัวเอง ที่คาดว่าจะต้านวัชพืช,
และ คำสัญญาใหม่ๆ ของการสร้างป้อมปราการชีวภาพ ในรูปของ ข้าวทอง
เพื่อแก้การขาดแคลนวิตามิน เอ, และ กล้วย จีเอ็มโอ เพื่อขจัดภาวะขาดแคลนธาตุเหล็ก.
When we assess genetic engineering as a tool that aims to
achieve the objectives of reducing pests and weeds or increases Vitamin A and
iron, it clearly fails the test. GMOs have created superpests and superweeds
instead of reducing pests and weeds. Golden rice is 7,000 per cent less
efficient in providing Vitamin A and GMO bananas will be 3,000 per cent less
efficient in providing iron than alternatives available in our rich but rapidly
disappearing biodiversity. GMOs continue to be promoted as a religion in spite
of all the evidence that they are failing to do the job they are designed for.
เมื่อเราประเมิน
วิศวพันธุกรรม ในฐานะที่เป็นเครื่องมือ
เพื่อให้บรรลุวัตถุประสงค์ของการลดแมลงและวัชพืช หรือ เพิ่มวิตามิน เอ และ เหล็ก,
มันสอบตกหมด. จีเอ็มโอ
ได้สร้างซูเปอร์แมลง และ ซูเปอร์วัชพืช แทนที่จะลดแมลงและวัชพืช. ข้าวทอง มีประสิทธิภาพน้อยกว่าถึง 7,000% ในการให้ วิตามิน
เอ และ กล้วย จีเอ็มโอ ก็จะมีประสิทธิภาพต่ำกว่าถึง 3,000% ในการให้ธาตุเหล็ก
เมื่อเทียบกับทางเลือกอื่นๆ
ที่มีอยู่แล้วในความหลากหลายทางชีวภาพอันอุดมสมบูรณ์ของเรา
แต่ก็กำลังเสื่อมโทรมสูญหายไปอย่างรวดเร็ว.
จีเอ็มโอ ยังคงถูกส่งเสริมในฐานะศาสนาต่อไป แม้ว่า หลักฐานทั้งปวง บ่งว่า
มันล้มเหลวในหน้าที่การงาน ที่มันถูกออกแบบให้ทำ.
And as in religious fundamentalism, here also there is
intolerance of alternatives — alternative paradigms, alternative approaches to
food production and independent science.
และก็เช่นเดียวกับลัทธิคลั่งศาสนา,
มันก็ไม่มีความอดทนต่อทางเลือก—กรอบโลกทัศน์ทางเลือก, แนวทางอื่นเพื่อการผลิตอาหาร
และ วิทยาศาสตร์อิสระ.
We are already witnessing the viciousness with which the
industry attacks anyone who provides an alternative. The new Seed Legislation
introduced by the European Commission on May 6, 2013, is a desperate attempt by
the biotechnology industry to criminalize the alternative of open source seeds
for farms and gardens in order to establish a monopoly of the seed and biotechnology
industry. Another example is the attack on scientists whose scientific research
has provided evidence of harm. The more the industry claims that the GMO debate
is about science, the more they silence science and replace it with their
pseudo-religion. Technological determinism replaces technological pluralism.
Technological totalitarianism replaces democratic choice and responsibility.
เรากำลังเผชิญกับความชั่วร้าย
ที่อุตสาหกรรมจะจู่โจมไม่ว่าใคร ที่เสนอทางเลือก.
กฎหมายเมล็ดใหม่ ที่ถูกนำเสนอโดย คณะกรรมาธิการยุโรป เมื่อวันที่ ๖ พค ๒๕๕๖
เป็นความพยายามรุนแรงสุดเหวี่ยงโดยอุตสาหกรรมเทคโนโลยีทางชีวภาพ (ไบโอเทค)
เพื่อยัดเยียดความเป็นอาชญากรให้กับทางเลือกของการมีแหล่งเมล็ดเปิดสำหรับฟาร์มและเรือกสวน
เพื่อ ก่อตั้งการผูกขาดเมล็ด และ อุตสาหกรรมไบโอเทค. อีกตัวอย่างหนึ่ง คือ การจู่โจมนักวิทยาศาสตร์
ที่มีงานวิจัยเชิงวิทยาศาสตร์ เป็นหลักฐานบ่งถึงอันตราย. ยิ่งอุตสาหกรรมอ้างว่า
การโต้วาทีเรื่องจีเอ็มโอ เป็นเรื่องเกี่ยวกับวิทยาศาสตร์,
มันก็ยิ่งปิดปากวิทยาศาสตร์ และ แทนที่มันด้วยศาสนาเก๊ จอมปลอม. ลัทธิครอบงำด้วยเทคโนโลยี แทนที่
พหุเทคโนโลยี. ลัทธิเผด็จการเทคโนโลยี
แทนทางเลือกและความรับผิดชอบแบบประชาธิปไตย.
A consequence of making technology an end rather than a
means is ignoring its impacts and failing to take responsibility for the harm
it does to nature and people. The ultimate expression of irresponsibility is to
create immunity for those who cause harm. A recent example is the Monsanto
Protection Act in the US which allows agricultural companies such as Monsanto
to ignore court orders against selling genetically-engineered seeds. Similarly,
the Government of India has prepared a draft bill to establish the
Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI). According to the bill, the
authority will be an autonomous and statutory agency to regulate the research, transport,
import, manufacture and use of organisms and products of modern biotechnology.
ผลของการทำให้เทคโนโลยีเป็นเป้าหมาย
แทนเป็นมรรควิถี คือ การเมินเฉยมองข้าม ผลกระทบของมัน และ
ล้มเหลวในการรับผิดชอบต่ออันตรายที่มันกระทำต่อธรรมชาติและประชาชน. สุดยอดของการแสดงออกถึงความไม่รับผิดชอบ คือ
สร้างเอกสิทธิ์คุ้มกันเหล่าผู้เป็นต้นเหตุของอันตราย. ตัวอย่างเมื่อเร็วๆ นี้ คือ พรบ
คุ้มครองมอนซานโต ในสหรัฐฯ
ที่อนุญาตให้บริษัทเกษตร เช่น มอนซานโต เพิกเฉยต่อคำสั่งศาล ที่ห้ามการขายเมล็ด
จีอี. ในทำนองเดียวกัน, รัฐบาลอินเดีย
ได้เตรียมร่างกฎหมาย เพื่อก่อตั้ง สำนักงานควบคุมเทคโนโลยีทางชีวภาพ. ตามร่างกฎหมาย, สำนักงานจะเป็นหน่วยงานอิสระ
ควบคุมการวิจัย, การขนส่ง, การสั่งเข้า, การแปรรูป และ ใช้สิ่งมีชีวิตและผลิตผลของเทคโนโลยีทางชีวภาพสมัยใหม่.
GMO today means “god move over”. But genetic engineering in
not a game of Lego in which genes can be moved around without any impact on the
organism or the environment. It is time to put nature and people back in the
technology narrative. It is time to see technology as a tool, and not an end
that defines a new fundamentalist religion through which corporations become
the new gods.
ทุกวันนี้ จีเอ็มโอ
หมายถึง “พระเจ้ามาแล้ว กระเถิบออกไป”.
แต่วิศวพันธุกรรม ไม่ใช่เกมเลโก้
ที่สามารถยักย้ายเคลื่อนยีนส์ให้ไปไหนมาไหนได้
โดยไม่เกิดผลกระทบต่อสิ่งมีชีวิตนั้น หรือ สิ่งแวดล้อม.
ถึงเวลาแล้วที่จะวางธรรมชาติและผู้คนกลับเข้าไปในบทบรรยายของเทคโนโลยี. ถึงเวลาแล้ว
ที่จะมองเทคโนโลยีว่าเป็นเครื่องมือ, และไม่ใช่เป้าหมาย ที่นิยาม
ศาสนาคลั่งลัทธิใหม่ โดยที่ บรรษัทกลายเป็นพระเจ้าใหม่ๆ.
© 2013 Asian Age
Dr. Vandana Shiva is a philosopher,
environmental activist and eco feminist. She is the founder/director of
Navdanya Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Ecology. She is
author of numerous books including, Soil Not Oil: Environmental Justice in an
Age of Climate Crisis; Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply;
Earth Democracy: Justice, Sustainability, and Peace; and Staying Alive: Women,
Ecology, and Development. Shiva has also served as an adviser to governments in
India and abroad as well as NGOs, including the International Forum on
Globalization, the Women’s Environment and Development Organization and the
Third World Network. She has received numerous awards, including 1993 Right
Livelihood Award (Alternative Nobel Prize) and the 2010 Sydney Peace Prize.
Published on
Wednesday, May 29, 2013 by The Asian Age
WrenchMonkey • 14 hours ago
GMOs, corporate "persons", mainstream capitalist
economics with its usurious commodity money, globalisation, the spread of
"democracy" at gunpoint, the theft and destruction of the commons for
"profit" and so much more are all a part and parcel of the worship of
Mammon.
This faith-based ideology scorns reality and science,
defying the laws of physics with its cancerous paradigm of endless
"growth".
The highest of the priesthood in this religion of death are
those who sit at the apex of the pyramid, the individuals who control the
international banking cartel.
The bankers, with their usury, are the root that must be
torn up and extirpated utterly and permanently.
Siouxrose > WrenchMonkey • 14 hours ago
Well said. However, this disastrous profit structure and how
it turns most societies into pyramid-shaped power structures could not manage
without the use of force. That's why 3rd world dictators spend money on buying
the latest hardware from U.S. (and other) weapons' corporations rather than
feeding their own people. And lo and behold, that very same ideology is now
being applied to the priorities being fitted to shape The Homeland's financial
reality.
WrenchMonkey > Siouxrose • 13 hours ago
Absolutely!
The "Shock Doctrine" is now being liberally
applied to "western civilisation".
Earth is being transformed into a "third world"
planet.
Siouxrose > WrenchMonkey • 10 hours ago
I am almost 60 years old and my Mother died at 49 from a
heart attack. We all know that Stress
kills; yet it's impossible
NOT to feel stress when confronted with the daily assaults on life, liberty,
intelligence, decency, fairness, and beauty! This poses quite a psychological
tango to negotiate.
Reading about the fake forests yesterday, Obama's sickening
way of making what he's deliberately doing (in the way of senseless Drone
warfare) appear as something else (and that twisted language DOES seduce a lot
of otherwise thinking persons), added to the growing influence of Monsanto and
the already precarious conditions impacting the plant and marine
"worlds," one is left with a powerful sense of grief.
I bike ride in the evening, and the heat sitting on Northern
Florida in a phase normally given to daily rains is PAINFUL. I water my small
garden, but sense that it's a race against time. The increased heat will have
more idiots watering their lawns, and more AC running to effectively draw down
the Florida Aquifer. All the while, the increase in energy use is what's
amplifying the global warming. It's quite a vicious cycle.
I feel like I am watching the Death of so much of the
natural world when it is indeed possible to shift this horror around. The first
order of business is accurate information. That means a FREE media. The second
is to have a true understanding---no longer adulterated by energy corps--widely
disseminated. The next is to get leadership to do what leadership is in place
to do: protect the public (or greater welfare of citizens).
From these ideal measures, new programs of conservation
would be imposed (if not inspired). I would even recommend energy quotas...
families that use too much gas or too much fuel to heat or cool their homes
(unless they have a medical waiver making those temperatures necessary) would
pay fines. The fine money, added to sums discontinued from the War Business,
would go towards greening the nation's buildings and preparing infrastructure
for climate chaos. Community gardens would spring up in EVERY inner city.
Schools would educate the young on this critical matter.
Contests for tomorrow's new energy inventors would be
sponsored with generous prizes offered. The finalists in all categories would
be given FREE college educations, etc.
And this is off the top of my head...
It's quite clear now that business as usual = homicide on a
massive scale. The offenders should be treated accordingly. If EVER there was a
Terrorist threat, then it's those Energy Corps (and other heinous corps like
Monsanto) that are facilitating the kill-off that certainly looks and feels
like terror to most thinking persons!
see more
WrenchMonkey > Siouxrose • 8 hours ago
What comes "off the top of your head" makes
eminent sense. Now how do we turn those admirable and rational ideas into
action against a vast and implacable power that stands in complete opposition
to them?
Your "business as usual" formula is undeniably
correct. What I personally find most horrifying, to a degree that is literally
sickening, is the fact that the resulting outcome is not incidental. The mass
homicide you describe is quite intentional and is being initiated maliciously.
Just my opinion.
Siouxrose > WrenchMonkey • 8 hours ago
There is no specfiic recipe just as there is no specific way
to cope with all the ways that climate chaos will impact the diverse types of
ecosystems this beloved planet has evolved over millions of years.
A drop of water will fall on a huge stone for years and one
day, that drop will split the stone.
THOUSANDS upon thousands of people doing things to break
away from The Machine, call it out, Speak Truth to Power, and begin to live
alternatives... factor in.
Einstein posed the crucial question--Is ours a benign
universe. If you answer, as he did, that it is; then you would likely embrace
Martin Luther King's strong faith that it EVENTUALLY arcs towards justice.
Now whether there is a singular God, an angelic kingdom,
alien intelligent life, a force that implements karma in ways we don't
understand or other... the point is, maybe we are not so alone in this struggle
as many imagine. And by WE, I mean those of us who believe in a just world,
basic equality for all, decency, sound stewardship of those natural resources
that all life depends upon, etc.
I write. Where possible, I attend protests. I only buy used
furniture & clothing and my AC is at 79-80 right now. Consume less is key,
too.
We all must do what we feel INWARDLY compelled to do... and
what's right for me, might not suit you and vice versa.
The Astrologos explains that humanity is on the cusp of an
AGE PHASE transition, and like the former massive transitions (which occur at
approximate 2200 year intervals) vast elements of life will alter dramatically.
Key to the next phase is that ONE size does not fit all, nor
will such rigid metrics ever be applied universally again. The answer is found
in Diversity, a/k/a diverse expressions... a HOLY world is based on wholeness
rather than all of its parts being made to act, think, and look alike. (In
other wrods, NOT the way Monsanto wants to line up crops in the place of
magnificent former natural plant communities.)
see more
Cuando > Siouxrose • 5 hours ago
Yes! do what we feel INWARDLY compelled to do ... and
everything else you said. Now.
I can't'fix' everything, but i can work (with others) to fix
one thing that calls to me.....
Elizabeth Tjader • 14 hours ago
This sure seems like the logical next step for a species
unwilling to accept its equal place in the vast web of life. There are some who
get it that we're just one tiny part of an incredibly complex system here on
Earth. But the "monsters", and they are "monsters", in
charge of developing genetically modified everything are determined to
"beat" nature and show Her how smart H. sapiens "thinks" it
is. It ain't gonna happen. Oh, these technology wizards might think they're
"winning". But the Earth and Her systems are much bigger, much
better, much older and wiser than anything they can do. We're a tiny blip on
the screen of geological history here on Earth.
There's no question that we're going to follow the same fate
to which all species eventually succumb: extinction. And on that day the last
human exhales its last breath, the Earth may just throw a party. She'd
certainly be entitled to one. And If I were alive to bear witness to that party
I'd celebrate with Her. Setting aside those few humans who have worked for the
good of the entire Earth, (and they are "few"), the single worst,
most destructive, most disrespectful and most arrogant organism ever to take
bodily form will decompose into dust like every other living thing. Hallelujah!
We'll follow the Dodo Bird right into the natural history text books. Though
who will be left to read about our destructive nature remains to be seen.
Evolution takes care of waste. There's comfort in that; that
means our time is coming. It also means that whatever other life forms still
exist once we're gone might just stand a chance at surviving. Now there's
something about which to be hopeful; millions of non human species standing a
chance. That would suit me just fine.
see more
jrp1900 > Elizabeth Tjader • 10 hours ago
Friend Elizabeth: Your passion for the earth and its animals
is inspiring and moving. But I do have a question for you: Do you see humans as
the most "unnatural" of the natural creatures? Have we no role to
play on earth? Are we not included in the "vast web of life" that
plays itself out in dramas of evolution? When the Dodo went extinct, a creature
that had a distinct niche in a specific ecosystem was lost forever to the
world. Who knows what deleterious effect the Dodo's passing had on other
animals and a range of plants? Might the same not be true for the mad, naked
apes who go by the name of "humans"?
Elizabeth Tjader > jrp1900 • 7 hours ago
Hello again Friend jrp1900,
I seem to be having a really bad day. Whatever tensions
and/or edginess came out in my response to you, please know none of it was
directed at you personally. (And if you didn't pick up on it, I know in what
mood I was writing that response, hence the apology).
These articles are getting to me. I'll have to take my own
advice to others "on the edge" and chill out. Sorry about that! You
are someone I do not wish to alienate.
Elizabeth
jrp1900 > Elizabeth Tjader • 6 hours ago
Friend Elizabeth: No apology needed. No offence taken. I
hope your day gets better as it wears on. I know what you mean about "bad
news" getting to you. Those are the moments when we have to take comfort
in the joy of simple things--a glass of beer, the smile of our dog, the sound
of a child at play...
Elizabeth Tjader > jrp1900 • 8 hours ago
Hello Friend jrp1900,
I was thinking about what I wrote later on this morning;
remembering the reality of how gut wrenching it is for those of us who love our
families and friends, as well as our earthling co-inhabitants, to say goodbye.
I don't really wish that on 7 billion people. What I do wish, and you don't
agree with me on this one aspect, is that there were about 6 billion fewer of
us. Every time a new human is born it takes away habitat, natural resources and
sustenance for other living things. There needs to be a balance so ALL living
things get a shot at life. That is absolutely not happening.
I had just finished a section of a biography I've been
reading on Darwin when I took a break and discovered this article. Talk about a
contrast? In the Victorian era people were awed by natural history and learning
about new species. They took botany walks, studied the flora and fauna of their
own geographical areas, raised awareness of the natural surroundings by forming
"amateur" groups. Those same groups brought attention to endangered
species in those days. And no, It wasn't perfect by a long shot but people were
much more involved in the outdoors and natural surroundings than anything
remotely similar today.
Here we are close to 200 years later, 6 billion plus more
human beings crawling the planet and an atmosphere growing hotter and more
polluted from C02 and other toxins. And most people today can't even tell the
difference between a black bird, a crow or a raven.
Yes, I suppose we do have some role to play in the natural
world. But I don't believe that role is one of playing god, and determining who
lives and who dies in the natural world. It really makes me angry. And the
hardest part in all of this is remembering how awed I was when I first began to
understand how brilliant nature is. All these incredible interconnected
relationships that rely on each other so the whole ecosystem functions fluidly
and healthfully. Millions and millions of species all working to make this
planet healthy and habitable. Then add us to the mix and the whole thing goes
to shit. And fast.
Future generations of young people won't get the same
chances. At the rate we're going, the only species that will be left with all 9
billion of us are the cockroaches and rats. I've said it before and I'll say it
again: that's not an Earth overflowing with biodiversity. That's hell.
see more
nveric > Elizabeth Tjader • 2 hours ago
Yes, the population explosion is the driver of discontent
and what ails the Earth.
Historically people had been struggling to survive as any
other animal. Sickness, poverty, war, hunger, and so forth took its toll on
humans through recorded times. Slowly the numbers increased. And as you point
out, about 200 years ago, those numbers roughly the limit for humans.
However, questions arise as to why humans evolved as they
have, to be so different from the other animals in their ability to recreate or
reshape their environment?
Another is their increasing requirements for resources from
what it was thousands of years ago?
Can we blame ourselves for wanting a more comfortable life?
I think it's comfort which drives human "progress."
Then the question could be "What's the optimal level of
comfort verses our impact on the Earth?" With increasing numbers, at some
point, comfort must decline to preserve the "balance."
see more
jrp1900 > Elizabeth Tjader • 6 hours ago
Friend Elizabeth: Thank you for your considered response to
my initial query. Yes, you are right: I don't agree with you that the world
would be a better place absent 6 billion people. I believe that if population
were radically reduced, but nothing else were done in the realms of economy,
culture and politics, the earth would still face a dire ecological future. In
other words, social structures have to change for the planet to survive as
"earth." I completely agree with you that humanity should not be
"playing god determining who lives and who dies." In my view,
"the God complex" has caused far more trouble than it's worth. We
would better off accepting what Darwin told us: that we are apes of a sort, and
that we have kinship with all the animals. I don't want to harp on the population
issue, because you and I have spoken of this topic many times before. But I do
want to pick up on some threads in your post.
You applaud the Victorians for being more involved than the
moderns in "the outdoors and natural surroundings." And you speak
poetically of your awakening to the wonder of Nature, 'the incredible
interconnected relationships" that constitute the totality of Life. I
agree with you it is all "brilliant." And yet, it is not more
brilliant than the fact that you have a mind that is capable of knowing and
understanding the greatness of Nature. In other words, a Natural fact of
momentous significance is the very existence of human beings--for they (and
they alone) are able to entertain Nature at the level of "thought."
Animals are marvelous, marvelous creatures, but they know nothing of beauty,
morality, philosophy and art. They know nothing of science, myth and religion.
Animals know what they need to know to survive, and
evidently they did not need to know the things which make us human.
When the first bird sang it was surely a momentous occasion
in the natural history of the planet. Similarly, when human language evolved it
was a remarkable event. You say that too many people don't know the difference
between a "crow and a raven." It's worth noting that such differences
would not even be conceivable without the genius of language. Indeed, while I
reject anthropocentrism, I still think that humans are among the most
extraordinary creatures ever to draw breath. And I am not alone in this
sentiment. Early humans recognized this in their art and mythology. The wonder
of "the phenomenon of man" (as De Chardin, put it) has been noted in
all the great religions and philosophies, from Hinduism to Hegel.
A world without bird song would not be worth living in. I
agree with you that would be "hell." But hell comes in many guises,
and one version of hell is a world where some humans (the privileged) would
have the "right" to deny life to billions of others (the "useless").
Elizabeth, I know your motives are benign in wanting to see fewer humans on
earth, but I fear opening the door to the eugenicists and fascists among us.
see more
nveric > jrp1900 • an hour ago
We can leave the planet at will. No other creature can do
this.
DarwinsBeagle > jrp1900 • 4 hours ago
The same is not true for us. Look around and realize the
mass destruction that has been caused thus far and look at what is in store. I
would say it would be just the opposite. A human extinction event today could
very well save all future life on the planet. The destruction and killing thus
far has been vast with no end in sight. Things are becoming hopeless. There's
real evil afoot. We accept it.
rodentx2 > jrp1900 • 9 hours ago
http://drstevebest.wordpress.c...
jrp1900 > rodentx2 • 8 hours ago
Rodentx2: Thank you for the reference. Your authority, Steve
Best, tells a familiar story of the rise and fall of "the human
empire." Some of his arguments are dubious, others I agree with. As you
know, because prehistory is so far away from us, we are left with speculative
interpretations, and interpretations are always a function of present concerns.
For example, it's hardly surprising that a warring culture such as ours would
find it likely that Homo Sapiens violently exterminated Neanderthals. The fact
is nobody knows with any degree of certainty what happened "back
then" and references to contemporary hunter-gatherers are as unhelpful as
they are misleading.
Like Jared Diamond, Mr. Best tries to put human beings into
a vast natural history of "rise and fall." But those who favor this
sociobiological model will typically mix various kinds of evidence in
questionable ways. Mr. Best is no exception. The fall of a political empire is
not comparable to the collapse of a dominant species for a whole host of
reasons. And any reliance on "overpopulation" as a natural factor,
must take account of the sorry ideological history of this crude and sinister
concept.
Please understand. I am not minimizing the harm visited on
the earth by human social pathologies. But I strongly object to characterizing
all humans--willy-nilly their age, nationality, class status and social
position--as intrinsically a "cancer" in Nature. This kind of
language is eugenicist, fascist and racist in its implications--it always has
been and it always will be. An ecology that promotes misanthropy is not
"ecology"; it is rather a form of cultural dementia or cultural
psychosis. It is the philosophical equivalent of cutting off one's nose to
spite one's face!
see more
DarwinsBeagle > Elizabeth Tjader • 5 hours ago
I don't think the survival of the planet is "in the
bag" at this point. It is becoming increasingly possible that the planet
will be left uninhabitable for all life by humans. If the hundreds/thousands of
nuclear reactors don't melt down, it's entirely possible that CO2 tipping
points will be met. If that doesn't do it in, perhaps a bio-engineered plague
or swarm of nano-bots will do her in. I think it really is wishful/hopeful
thinking believing that mother earth will be able to shake off the human swarm
like so many fleas. All these comments lamenting our condition, not one
identifies a call for action. With trillions of dollars in profits at stake,
who is going to stop them? I think this observation was made by an Indian
reporter covering the Bauxite mining by multinationals in sacred Hindu
mountains. We accept, the survival of the planet hangs in the balance, our
souls sink like stones in a pond.
Cheryl Hugle > DarwinsBeagle • 3 hours ago
>>"I don't think the survival of the planet is
"in the bag" at this point."<<
I think we are well along the way to committing matricide as
well.
Andreatu > Elizabeth Tjader • 7 hours ago
Elizabeth Tjader:
Dearest companion,
One could preface most articles that appear on CD with Wordsworth’s:
“The world is too much with us; late and soon, “ especially when
today’s news is a repeat of yesterday’s spiral to that cesspool of inverted
logic that seems to have no end in sight. Frustrated and angered, there is
little recourse at times outside of being the changes you would wish to see.
My own son who teaches at a University has accepted the
Capitalist Model along with my daughter in-law. There is nothing that
Capitalism cannot fix in their eyes. I make my point gently as I retreat to the
spirit of another time in the hopes that one day I may be there to greet their
arrival homeward.
Speaking of another time, it is this [time frame] of giving back
to the community that I wish to share with you Elizabeth, as one concerned
citizen of planet Earth to another. The song “The Jeannie C” by Stan Rogers was
written when the artist was in his twenties; it beautifies the struggle and
hardship of a generation of people that came before and making possible an
easier existence for those that followed. In a detached narrative voice, the
experience of the common people is augmented to the highest language of song as
a way of giving back and to say, [thank you]!
When God’s canvas has been upbraided with critiques from the
Masters of ceremonies that they could do better, the spirit invoked in this
song, especially the line – “But this day, by god, we sure caught cod, and we
sang and we laughed like fools/I'll go to sea no more” becomes the sentiment in
bloom for me. I hope it resonates with you too.
Thank you, Vandana
Shiva.
BTW: Google the
lyrics to the song to see how beautifully
crafted this piece of writing is; it could easily be said
that it was written two or three hundred years ago – timely and another time
indeed.
PS: I’ve not
forgotten the NY tape. I’m hoping to send you a copy somehow so I’ll get back
to you on that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
see more
Elizabeth Tjader > Andreatu • 2 hours ago
Thank you Andreatu for ALWAYS finding a way to infuse beauty
into the conversation. You're a master at doing it and I appreciate it most
sincerely!
Paul Siemering > Elizabeth Tjader • an hour ago
don't blame our species or all humans- yes monsanto and
their ilk are monsters, but that's the one percent- not all humans.
think about Indigenous peoples and how they took care of
this planet for many thousand years. and for that matter your friends and
neighbors, and your comrades here at cd- we are all right. which only makes the
situation we are in worse we are being killed by the 1%!
Tom Carberry • 15 hours ago
GMO today means “god move over”.
I think this message might have some effect on religious
Americans, if presented well. But then again, probably not.
ZeroPointField > Tom Carberry • 15 hours ago
A message by an older lady with that dot thing on her
forehead in that ridiculous garb?
C'mon man, I crack up when you even say Jewish
Don Corleone > ZeroPointField • 12 hours ago
That's actually kind of funny when you think about it, and
true.
White people do not listen to non-white people. They see
this Indian woman and easily dismiss her, because of her culture.
LillithMc > Don Corleone • 12 hours ago
You mean the brainless white people?
ZeroPointField > Don Corleone • 12 hours ago
The point I was trying to make in a slanted way. Thanks,
mafia boss.
CygnusX1isaHole • 15 hours ago
The fundamentalist religion is Free Market Capitalism.
Its adherents are Free Market Radicals.
GMO is a sect of this religion.
Siouxrose > CygnusX1isaHole • 14 hours ago
It goes WAY beyond those parameters. It is the ASSERTION of
man and machine OVER nature, in other words RAPE on a massive scale of that
which connotes the Feminine side of life (the side that manifests all living
things).
Nature is generally regarded as the Mother. All across South
American Indigenous cultures this is understood and given reverence through the
term: Pacha Mama. That's why several South American leaders have sought to
enshrine--into law--the Rights of Mother Nature in order to preserve these
precious ecosystems that evolved over countless millennia. Can Bill Gates or
his buddies at Monsanto EVER put back together what they so willingly seek to
tear asunder?
The earth is like a greath womb endlessly giving forth
living beings.
Just as males have sought to control the birth canal (and
reproductive lineage) of women for many centuries, this same Dominator
Mentality reaches into and over the Natural World. And it is KILLING
everything.
Bill Gates, the man who IS a machine, along with Monsanto,
the company that made its first major profits on the killer chemicals used in
war (Vietnam--Agent Orange) are very dangerous entities to be given (at
essentially gunpoint via their financial power in a phase where Big Capital
trumps every other law or sane consideration) control of so much of the world's
basic food products.
As I've offered before, Capitalism came late to the game.
Had the Dominator Mindset that perceived the natural world as a THING to be
conquered, controlled, and sold off in parcels (rather than recognized as the
vital living web of life) not been firmly in place, the horrors being unleashed
under what Vandana Shiva terms "fundamentalist pseudo-science" could
never have come about.
Of course, there is MUCH on record that runs parallel with
the fate of Atlantis as that society faced these VERY same issues. Much of the
material (the lost record) came through Edgar Cayce; however, he was hardly the
only source to unearth the story of this former high-tech culture that made
genetic engineering its centerpiece. That, and internal conflict, led to the
demise of that civilization.
It sure feels like Deja Vu to those of us who have studied
the mystics and recognized the worth of their testimony.
see more
Suspiria_de_profundis > Siouxrose • 12 hours ago
The metaphors used in "The Ecology of Eden" is
apt. Man sees nature as the enemy and something to be feared. Left on its own
nature produces "monsters" that devour men , thus man must use the
blade axe and plow to subdue nature and remake her on his terms.
The slaying of the Medusa , or of dragons or of hydras and
other such beasts of myth were the metaphors used for this war on nature.
The problem here of course is that the monsters produced are
not at the hand of nature, they are at the hand of man as the far greater
monsters are produced by those who imagine up a fear of them.
This also appears to be relevant to the so called "war
on terror" as that apparatus sought to combat it is orders of magnitude
worse then the threat posed by "terrorism".
Siouxrose > Suspiria_de_profundis • 10 hours ago
I would think after reading my posts for 5 years you'd know
that I'd find your deliberate use of the pronoun MAN to signify what BOTH
genders do... to be offensive.
It is AS offensive as the use of the WE pronoun to conflate
what the MIC does in the way of daily killing with the supposed consent of the
FULL citizen body.
If you want to say that something is typical to male
behavior and then use the word MAN to describe that, that's fine. It's an
altogether different matter when behaviors ENFORCED on threat of death by the
church-state, behaviors that are about MALE domination and unequal gender
evaluations (along with unfair reciprocal rights and privileges) are alleged to
represent ALL persons. And conveniently, all persons who are not designated by
"MAN" are rendered invisible... as well as voiceless.
YOU are one of the few who gets this distinction. Please
don't sweep it back under the rug.
Every time the White Male Brotherhood creates a law or
imposes a standard without ANY input from women or minorities, it may or may
not speak for those NOT invited to the table.
This kind of imposition from small elites has gone on for
centuries. IT has left in place, enormously unfair social, cultural, and
financial hierarchies. The perfect ongoing example is how NATO decides on the
fate of Arab nations leaving the wishes of the people out of the equation. Or
how the faux money printed by the U.S. Fed and spread 'round the world allows
dangerous entities to buy up Indigenous land... and thereby throw the TRUE
tenants (the lands' caring stewards) off.
What men do, and what the male-oriented Dominator Society
does is not necessarily about what WOMEN would choose or execute IF they had
equal power, input, and resources.
In every article we read, from those that chronicle the
diabolical levels of violence directed at women, to those that explain how the
cuts to Social Security will impact women more (due to the wage gap); to those
that explain the plight of women all across the 3rd world... we SEE that in
most of these instances, existing laws (those of patriarchy and its dual tiered
religious orders) DAMAGE women and persons of color.
The opponents of this Truth pull out the usual roster of
those 20 women recently empowered by the Make-War State... as if these tokens
somehow represent women. THAT is how they argue FOR the status quo. They are
INURED to its casualties.
It was a WOMAN judge that sided with Daniel Ellsberg &
Chris Hedges in the lawsuit they brought against the Draconian State and its
unchecked NDAA powers.
It was a WOMAN prosecutor and a WOMAN judge that tried to
hold the Guatemalan dictator to account (their military is blocking justice, as
is SO typical).
It's an Indigenous Women's Group (Idle No More) that's
fighting the Canadian tar sands and other assaults on the natural world.
It was a woman, Medea Benjamin, who called the President
publicly to account!
It was a WOMAN (Dr. Flowers) who tried to get Obama to place
a Universal Health Care system on the table.
It was women like Ellen Brown, Catherine Fitts and Elizabeth
Warren who are blowing the whistle on the banksters' cartel.
It is a WOMAN, Bianca Jagger, who works to draw the world's
attention to the decimation of the Amazon; and a WOMAN leader in Iceland who
opposed Austerity.
It's a WOMAN like Vandana Shiva who's standing up to
Monsanto's KILLER lies.
And a woman, Naomi Klein, who exposed the modus operandi of
today's Disaster Capitalism.
The list goes on.
I think (?) it was Marjorie Cohn who several years ago asked,
"Where are the boys?" when she was trying to create opposition to
Bush's War OF Terror.
Too many men are comforted by the existing status quo and
therefore don't try to rock the boat. Interesting, too, that Bradley Manning
& Glenn Greenwald happen to be gay.
I VASTLY applaud the efforts of straight men who work for
justice, human rights, and the sustainability of this marvel of a planet...
like Julian Assange, Bill McKibben, Robert Jensen, Chris Hedges, Jeremy
Scahill, and MANY others.
What MEN decide does not necessarily reflect the wishes,
sensibility, outlook, or insights of women! And given the state of this world
with all systems on the verge of collapse, it's time for THE DESIGNATED DRIVER
to turn the wheel over to the co-pilot or at least ask HER what SHE thinks!
Got that?
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Suspiria_de_profundis > Siouxrose • 10 hours ago
I did say man.I did not say humans. When I wish to cast
blame equally I will say humans.
When I say man I mean man. Man is male. There is no separate
species called man. Man is the male of that species referred to as Homo
sapiens.
While referring to MAN in this matter might include males
that do not ascribe to that mindset, it is the dominating narrative. This is no
different then referring to "white society" or "capitalists"
or "right wingers". That a person might be white and recognize the
injustices visited upon persons of color by the same does not mean said person
is not white.
I see no need to offer disclaimers when using the term
capitalists and see no need to write disclaimers when referring to man as man.
When I post on such things in the future I will continue to
refer to men as men women as women and the two of them together as humans or as
homo sapiens in spite of your objections.
Indeed I would suggest that when a person sees my referring
to man as all of humankind, men and women both ,then they are speaking to their
conditioning.
I would point out that when referring to the metaphors
mentioned, from the Medusa to Grendel ,the hero doing the slaying was a male
and the monsters were female.
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theoldgoat > Siouxrose • 10 hours ago
Really, really good reminders !
ljg500 • 14 hours ago
What Vandana Shiva is pointing out is the misapplication of
science- which at its core is the pursuit of knowledge- with a modern techno
fascist fundamentalism that seeks profits and the crushing of individual
freedom as the only moral imperative. At its core it is anything but science-
but instead the willful dissemination of lies. It does not really matter that the
tsunami of misinformation creates willing slaves- even among the oppressors.
What does matter is that great, ancient natural truths- truths that are the
underpinnings of human life and consciousness are subordinated and corrupted.
For this- there is a price to be paid- on a mythological, eschatological Scale -
the sin of arrogance, the blindness to truth and the death that never wakes.
polarbear4 • 13 hours ago
Thank you, thank you, for continuing the fight, Dr. Shiva!
Cheryl Hugle • 11 hours ago
Or were the biotech companies entirely predictable once the
very false 'God' was created by empire societies?
The very same 'God' (of many names) used to sever natural
human awareness and intimate connection with Mother Earth and her laws of
sustainable operation.
T Fletcher • 16 hours ago
No, I think the corporation is worshiped as god. GMOs are
just one of the sacraments.
Ando Arike > T Fletcher • 16 hours ago
I think it's more that the corporation is revered in the way
the Holy Roman Church was during the Dark and Middle Ages. Shareholders and
consumers alike worship at the temples of Monsanto, Exxon, Lockheed, etc.,
listening to sermons by high priests like Obama, Jamie Dimon, Warren Buffet...
The One True God in capitalist civilization is Mammon, the
Almighty Dollar.
Siouxrose > Ando Arike • 14 hours ago
It would hardly have the power to wield this
"homage" were it not for the military, the armed guards there to
enforce the dicta of these corporations that have now so efficiently purchased
most U.S. "law"makers, the courts, the presses, the media, and the
presidency... with similar "progress" made throughout Europe, Canada,
and across the Middle East via dark deals made with bloody tyrants.
Often I've pointed to the marriage between mammon and Mars
rules... as key to what's caused so many wonderful aspects of life to become
completely inverted.
Or, as Thomas Friedman put it, "There could be no
McDonalds (the spread of U.S. corporations) without MacDonnell Douglas."
Think Jack Perkins and Smedley Butler's testimonies.
philiphoko > Siouxrose • 11 hours ago
"the armed guards there to enforce the dicta" To
paraphrase Orwell: A dog can be trained with a whip to heel; a well trained dog
will do somersaults without the whip.
Siouxrose > philiphoko • 11 hours ago
Right on analogy. I was trying to explain how the
"Random Interval Reinforcement" works to my significant other last
night. He is so into order that he gives his 7 cats about 10 minutes to eat
their food and then the plates get swooped up and immediately washed. One could
EAT off the floor in his house. It's anti-septic clean. People born at the end
of l964 and into l965 have several outer planets in Virgo. Because I understand
people on the basis of their blueprints, I don't impose a singular set of norms
or standards. He is very true to that part of his nature. To me, it's obsessive
compulsive, but the cleanliness (for all his constant efforts) is a pleasure.
I let my dogs eat food when they want to, which means the
dishes are out all day. Unfortunately, insects find their way inside and I HATE
pesticides.
Anyway, conditioning is a very powerful way to instill
loyalty and predictable behaviors. That's why what is UNPREDICTABLE, like Medea
Benjamin breakiing "polite" protocol to call the President on his
duplicitous (as in lying) speech was so powerful.
This type of spontaneity--which all the surveillance in the
world cannot chart, neither predict--will help to take down the moneychangers'
temples. People are gettig more and more fed up. Add summer heat to the
bristling "embers," and things can burn real quickly. August looks
HOT that way.
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WrenchMonkey > Ando Arike • 14 hours ago
Mammon is exactly correct.
ErnestineBass > Ando Arike • 13 hours ago
The Almighty U.S. Dollar, to be precise.
natureschild3 > T Fletcher • 16 hours ago
yeah, but gotta luv the 'god-move-over' acronym!
theoldgoat • 10 hours ago
The indigenous peoples in the Xingu region of Amazon are
calling for international support. They returned on Monday to occupy the
construction site of the Belo Monte monster dam.
They're hoping for global support writing President Rousseff
to DO THE RIGHT THING! Her government made promises and then didn't keep them.
http://intercontinentalcry.org...
The government and corporations won't follow their own
Constitution and agreements for 'prior informed consultation. The indigenous
peoples again say stop - its time to talk.
They're the ones who get flooded out, displaced, the biomes
raped and the transnationals just keep sucking tax monies and rights - all the
way to the bank.
LillithMc • 11 hours ago
The vulture capitalists have monitized every part of what
they could control including nature when they can genetically alter it, patent
it and rent it out. This could happen to your body. Alter some of your DNA,
patent you and own you. With their Round-up laced frankincorn your digestive
system will fail, but they will sell you a modified patented version of your
own DNA with a cure IF you still have any money left. Otherwise there are
massive places for the poor and dying similar to reservations also.known as
Kochland full of fossil fuel dumps, poor and sick unpatented humans. Notice the
GMO protests were monitored by Blackwater.
ggetaclue • 12 hours ago
Disgraceful abuse of power. Shame on all of them. And you
can bet Monsanto/ADM execs and their families don't eat the frankenfood.
jrp1900 • 10 hours ago
A great article--clear, logical, persuasive. Dr. Shiva is
right that the world suffers under "a new fundamentalist religion through
which corporations become the new gods." As an activist and a scientist,
Dr. Shiva has shown that GM crops are inferior to natural and traditional crop
varieties in "total biomass yield." The whole Green Revolution was
premised on "efficiency" and greater nutritional values in
agricultural practices. From this standpoint , the Green Revolution failed:
greater agricultural productivity came with the crippling deficits of
over-reliance on pesticides and the increased adaptive powers of "super
pests." In cost/benefit terms, the net result was loss, as what was gained
in crop yield was lost in pollution, soil degradation and the social alienation
of people from the land. It is now clear that the Green Revolution was just one
more chapter in the great enclosure of the world by capitalist ruling classes.
The Green Revolution purportedly made agriculture more "efficient" by
making it industrial. And industrial agriculture has little tolerance for
alternative forms of husbandry. The transformation of agriculture from
"organic" to industrial values has been going on since at least the
16th century, when English landowners displaced peasants with sheep in the name
of the wool industry (cf. Thomas More's "Utopia"). Today, enclosure
continues in Brazil, Indonesia, and India, as cattle "farmers" and
giant agro-corporations destroy what remains of the world's great forests and
the subsistence economies that are often based there.
The Green Revolution has proven to be anything but
"green," but it prevails as a paradigm of "farming" because
it is highly profitable to those who own the world. These people own land,
water and seeds (the very stuff of Life). They own people and livestock. They
own governments and whole nations. They own vast wealth. But in their minds
(the psychotic growths of the psychosis of capitalism), they do not own enough!
Unless, they own it all--every square inch of everything worth owning--they
cannot be satisfied. It goes without saying that this predatory
"greedy" attitude is unnatural--indeed, it is anti-nature and
anti-life. The corporations own our bodies and what we put into them. But they
haven't yet gained ownership of our souls. This is why we need people like Dr.
Shiva to remind us to hold onto ourselves.
People of the past sacrificed animals and sometimes other
humans to placate the gods. We see now that their "thinking" was
"primitive," that they were misguided in their efforts to influence
the workings of Nature. As we allow the corporations to run amok, a wiser
people in the future will surely recognize us for the "primitives" we
are. Every day, life is sacrificed so that someone somewhere can make money!
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Alcyon • 8 hours ago −
"Convincing India that it needs Western junk has not
been easy."
That is from a "New Internationalist" magazine
article, commenting on Pepsi's struggle to enter India, in August 1988, cited
in "Pepsi's Entry into India: A Lesson in Globalization".
That was the situation in 1988, so why is it relevant now?
It clearly appears that the modus operandi of multinational corporations
peddling their unwanted, unneeded junk is pretty much the same: find a foothold
or a beachhead (there's no "beach" in Punjab, btw) in some part of a
country with some pliable politicians or government. And then spread the
tentacles from there on. Vandana Shiva's article has this to say:
"... through a “memorandum of understanding” with
biotech corporation Monsanto, the Punjab government is now introducing hybrid
maize in the name of “diversification”."
It turns out that it was the Punjab (state) government that
also facilitated the entry of Pepsico into India after multinationals suc
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