A lot of times i go to the grocery store and pick out the same sort of food. Cheap, easy to make and loaded with preservatives/concentrates/complex carbs. I'm going to be honest, it's because i'm lazy. i'm too lazy to spend 20-30 minutes a night making something to eat. i want to pop it into the microwave. Also i'm selfish. i stock up hoping to save money and shopping time and realize that 2 weeks later i'm throwing away a lot of extra food. i think those characteristics stereotype americans.
You probably ask, how this plays out. Well, the chemical companies created a pesticide which made them a lot of money, so they used that money to buy the seed companies. Then the conglomerate was able to create a seed that incorporated pesticide resistance, so the farmers would be able to quickly and easily increase yeilds. The conglomerate did something remarkable though, they patented the genetically modified seed. The reason this is remarkable, is because the ability to patent a living thing, is a bit proposterous. Think about it; if you made a genetic enhancement to increase the fullness of your hair, would the company be able to have control of your hair? Not only that, but if you had off-spring, would the company be able to have control of their hair? Obviously not, but this is exactly what the chemical companies did!
The other thing that is remarkable about putting a patent on plant life, is that seeds are transplanted from one area to another through the use of: wind, birds, deer, rain etc. If your gf/bf kissed you, and the saliva containing dna became ingrained in the partner, would the company own the partner too? Again, this is something that the conglomerate did. And they sued you if their grain came into contact with your land. Personally, i would think that the farmers should be able to sue the companies for contaminating their land with genetically engineered plants, but alas, the companies put lobyists into place to prevent that sort of "logic" from showing up.
Moral of the story, the farmers are losing a battle of independance, while they are being required more and more to depend on the conglomerate companies. Not only that, but the conglomerates are building power, and will eventually try to maintain control over every seed that is planted. This will put the ability of those to eat in the hands of a few men. We will depend upon these men, if things work according to their plans.
but i bet you are wondering how that relates to my initial statement regarding my laziness, discontentment and selfishness. Well, as i think about the role genetic engineering is playing, i realize that it's a horrible operation that will have even worse results. What action will i take though? I've known about organic food for years, but never bought it because i thought to myself "yeah but it's too expense" or "yeah, but the modified food is in nice little microwavable packages" etc. I'm selfish. i'm lazy. American's realize the disatrous effects of our decisions, but the consequences aren't great enough, and relevent enough to us, that it causes any real change. i'm going to take this down a linear path which might seem a bit overboard, but i want this to sink in. 5 million people starve to death every year. The reason they die is NOT because of lack of food production ability, but because the lack of distribution. The lack of distribution is not because of lack of ability, but because of lack of action by people who control resources. The lack of action by people who control resources is not problem i should worry about though. i can't control what they do, so to spend even one second of my day desiring their heart to change is foolishness. Wasting time is the most foolish thing i can do, because time is the real commodity; not money, or oil or power. Time. and just think, i wasted it writing this blog unless it helps me to be a man of action.
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