I may have read into your quote of Greg, since you made no comment and
the rest was negative. I stand corrected and glad that we both agree
that the social and political aspects of sust. ag. are as important as
the environmental and economic.
I did not, however, dehumanize anyone. You mentioned that "real" people
(your phraseology) work at Monsanto, Novartis... If anyone has
dehumanized them, it's the corporate entity. They must become schizoid
to work all day for a company that kills and destroys, has no ethics- is
driven by profit motive only and then be able to go home and try to feel
good about themselves. Or they decide that what is done in the business
world is different from what they do in their private lives- i.e.,
"Bhopal is OK- those people should know better or should work and live
somewhere else if they don't like the risk- as long as I go to church
and contribute to Greenpeace."
And, IMO, it's just as schizophrenic to say that the social and
political aspects of sust. ag. should be discussed as a separate issue,
away from the biologic. It is this kind of disassociated thinking that
has gotten us in the crisis we're in- social, political, economic,
ethical and spiritual. These must all be considered as a whole, for they
are inseparable and affect each other.
About "yobs"- perhaps you're not a Clash fan and missed the reference.
It's not us and them- you're reading too much into my words. You may
need to search yourself to see if you have a prejudice somewhere that
leads you to this when you read words that disagree with your position.
I know I struggle each day to convert my prejudices.
And your example of someone "producing 100 acres of certified organic
onions at a shot and packing them with efficient infrastructure" is the
root of the problem- monocrops, packing for the existing infrastructure
of consolidated food industry, not diversity grown in a responsible way
for people who use the food to nourish their bodies.
And then you said:
"Suppose I do genuine organic agriculture better than you, hire 20
people and
drive you out of business. Does that make me evil? It does bring up
ethical issues of capitalism. But those need to be stated clearly, not
conflated and continually sold as a biological problems."
I wouldn't dream of "trying to run" someone out of business. That's an
act of violence. Farmers are better off cooperating and realizing
there's plenty of market to go around. You'll have to find someone else
to fight with- I'm not interested. I am interested in what benefits my
community as a whole. That's why I teach others how I grow and market. I
would rather live in a community where there are so many organic farmers
that I would have to quit farming, find a job so I could buy all this
fresh, nutritious food . It's about enriching the community rather than
hoarding information and money. And you'll have to look to your own soul
for the answer about what is evil.
I hope that you will some day realize that we can no longer disassociate
if we wish to survive and prosper- real prosperity, not money and
possessions. And please do not cry, "Foul" every time someone talks of
all aspects of an issue. We need to be doing more of this.
Alex
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