We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Sunday, June 14, 2015

Ignoring Reality, Subverting Morality: GMOs And The Neoliberal Apologists

Click here to access article by Colin Todhunter from East by Northwest.

I think this is one of the best articles written by this British blogger who has witnessed the effects of industrial agriculture in India where he has spent so much time. He has frequently aimed his intellectual weapons at Monsanto as a prime example of a multinational corporation that is having adverse effects not only on food and health but also on the social structure of farming communities in India.

capitalism as a rhizome plant

In this piece he digs deeper to show how the underlying rhizome-like plant structure of capitalism is spreading its tentacles everywhere in search of profits for its ruling classes embedded in most societies of the world with the most aggressive rooted in Western nations. He examines the root structure of oligarchs, think tanks, and financial institutions which make up this structure of capitalism. Thus, it wouldn't matter if Monsanto or Bill Gates suddenly disappeared, because some other corporation or oligarch would soon appear to function the same way. To paraphrase that great sage Bill Clinton, "It's the [economic system], stupid."