Thomas Jefferson and the food revolution

Liberty for the white ruling class... smells like stinky poo-poo to me.

Understandable. Much like Churchill's quip on Russia. He's a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. Translation He's a prick, wrapped in a sheeps casing, inside the country's collective colon.

What was obscene about his agriculture? It was the most natural and organic you could get. And just fyi, he wrote into the original declaration his wish to end slavery as he thought it an abomination. It was changed to get the votes for the overall declaration from the racists ( who also saw it as an economic issue) of the South who would never have voted to accept it had that been part of it. Believe me, I too have a problem with it, but it is such a complicated issue especially regarding the times.

Perhaps you will find more information on those who lived there here:

http://www.monticello.org/site/plantation-and-slavery/thomas-jefferson-and-slave...

http://www.monticello.org/site/plantation-and-slavery

Before I check out your links I would just like to point out that TJ lived like a king in a big mansion while his slaves toiled away on the plantation (at that time how could it not have been natural and organic). Also TJ wrote a really messed up book where he claimed blacks were not only inferior mentally but they exuded a foul smell (which I suppose was further proof in his twisted mind of their inferiority). And don't forget about manifest destiny and the genocide of indigenous Americans. There were people (white people) at that time who thought all this was abominble. TJ was not one of them and if he really was, he should have acted accordingly, which he did not. I don't see how it was any more complicated back then than it is now. Facts are facts. I think his main concern was for himself and his own grandiousity. Little has changed.

Furthermore, if you read the first article you linked to all the way through, you will find it supports what I have said above. As for the rest, I am not going to read them all, I have heard it all before. Keep in mind monticello is pretty much required to present TJ in the best possible light it can get away with.

No hard feelings I hope. I feel strongly about this and I am not trying to attack you personally.

Thanks. Take care.

What the hell are you talking about? I'm not here as a left or right person. If you think this is just a site for political junkies think again. I am not on any political side here and frankly am sick and tired of people turning everything into left or right here. And hyperbole? Are you kidding me? Did you even understand what was written or what is happening in this country regarding agriculture? This is about our survival and the ability to save and cultivate seeds freely without the intervention of corporate ownership that has now done nothing but jeopardize biodiversity. That to me is neither left nor right nor hyperbole, nor is the sustainable food movement that is growing in this country to counter it. Perhaps you need to read up on this topic more.

Yes indeed I am very much aware of what Monsanto is up to and the dangers they pose on a global scale. However, attaching the founding fathers to everything is very tiresome and hardly advances your cause. Yes it is hyperbole when you attach Jefferson to your caluse

Who attaches them to everything? You obviously do not understand the connection between being able to plant seeds and save them and how that corrolates to freedom. If you don't understand that, again, perhaps you need to read up more and not paint everything stated here with you political labels. The point once again being, that like then when freedom was treasured regarding agriculture (especially by Jefferson, Adams and Washington as they were farmers as were most of the people at that time in this country) so should it be again as it is slowly being taken from us. It is just as much a part of this day as discussing any other kind of freedom, such as religion where Jefferson is always quoted. If you can't get that corrolation, that's you problem. Now please make a point of then going into every other thread here that discusses religion and other topics in regards to the founders and this day and telling them how tiresome their posts are. You don't win anyone to your cause by trashing others who are sincere.

The conversation about Monsanto and world food security is absolutely critical. It is not just food security but we wll need to make much great use of plant fibers for fabrics as well as other materials. However when you turn it into a Jeffersonian issue you take away from the critical nature of the discussion. It is not only a discussion of freedom it is a discussion of the ability of man to continue to inhabit this planet.
We are not losing our seed freedom slowly it is in fact happening very very rapidly, do don't cheapen the discussion. Your activism on behalf of the planet is important and laudable, I just don't think that attaching the name of a farmer who died in 1836 advances a thing. If you don't think this is a political issue you are mistaken as well. We cannot advance conservation in any other way

No, you are making it a "Jeffersonian issue" ( whatever that means.) I see no one else with a problem here but you. I corrolated it as a survival/ freedom issue based on the fact of what this day commemorates. I do not attach them to everything. However, you also seem intent to discredit my comments and intentions for whatever reason. I have been posting on this issue here for well over three years and writing about it as well and full well understand its importance and know what I'm talking about. And yes, it has been subtle and slow over the last three decades as Monsanto and their counterparts have been working behind the scenes to infiltrate governments and universities to spread these seeds globally, infecting the planet and cornering the seed market as well. They are now moving faster as they see the resistance to this globally and also in the hopes of cashing in on the effects of climate change. Their biopiracy schemes along with their tactics of intimidating farmers and crowding them out of the organic seed market to give them no other choice but to purchase GMOs is also indeed a freedom and survival issue, and I would go so far as to say it is unconstitutional. Perhaps you should then familiarize yourself with the postings and information on it here since you are new so you understand that there are others here who know the topic and how critical it is to biodiversity, survival AND freedom. Believe me, I take this VERY seriously. And sure it is political as BOTH parties are involved in the deception. My comment regarding politics was in regard to it not being a partisan political issue as you seem determined to make it as well.

That is so true. I am frustrated with the power that Monsanto seems to have and the power that they want to have: controlling the food supply. That seems to be their ulterior motive. They've tried to make it unlawful to label dairy products free of their chemical hormones or grains, vegetables and fruits free of their genetic modification; they've tried to outlaw raw milk which some people drink for health reasons; they've tried to put organic food growers and folks who plant their own seeds out of business time and time again. This really is an issue of freedom.

I believe it was Thomas Jefferson who said (words to the effect) "eternal vigilance is the price of freedom."

It most definitely is an issue of freedom. Thanks for understanding.

I would say that were they alive today they would not approve of the corporatization of our food system and would be fighting to preserve the ways of traditional crossbreeding, seed saving and sustainable agricultural practices, which was the point I suppose some just didn't want to understand.