Gates Foundation and Cargill paper to force soy monoculture into Africa

I know who he is. He was on the Monsanto legal team that developed the term "substantial equivalence." And I believe subsequent to that he was Chief of Staff for Al Gore when he was Vice President. And your point to asking me that is what? Where is the corrolation? If I didn't have the name Gore in my screen name would you have even cared if I knew who he was? Do you have any other information to offer on the topic of this post based on that? I have BTW, made no distinctions in my criticisms of Monsanto buttkissing regardless of the administration involved. So again, what is your point in asking me this?

Your point that conditions in Africa are different from the US, and even South America, is well taken. Africa is different.

The impulse to 'do good' on a huge scale like this from the outside of a society invariably invokes the law of unintended consequences.
That inevitability will get an extra boost in the collision of this scheme of macro-engineering by the Gates Foundation in Africa. The effects on the ground in Africa, and the subsequent ripple effects will be profound.

To my mind, the very basic assumptions that Gates appears to be consistently operating from ("more is better; I'm smarter than you;") need to be re-examined.

Having known people like Gates, who achieved extraordinary success in one area, I can tell you that the most dangerous phenomena for individuals like him is that they assume because of that success, they are knowledgeable to the point of omniscience in all other things. It's a sad fallacy, and one that the folks fluttering around that particular flame, always, and consistently, wholly support.

One of the underpinnings of massive capital ventures like this, even in the step-child world of global entrepreneur's non-profit foundations, is the core bit of magical thinking (held by all devote capitalists) that there must ALWAYS be a geometrically expanding customer base to "pay" for the venture. To succeed they must count on that assumption and remove any obstacle to that planned future expansion.

In the almost unlimited world of colonial expansion and untapped resources open to Capitalism in the era of Adam Smith that had some rational basis, on the surface of it.
Unfortunately, that model doesn't maintain it's stability when it reaches the limits of rational expansion.

No matter what our joy is in the blessing of a simple economic theory that particular theoretical model just doesn't apply to the world as it is now.

No matter what the motive, or how noble the intent, or the projected outcome, the damage that will be done trying to force that model, based on that assumption, in Africa, will have long term disastrous consequences.

Sorry, you are wrong. Africans on the whole do not wish to eat them (Monsanto just pulled out GE canola from South Africa BTW, because resistance was so strong) because there are already naturally breeded seeds that can withstand drought, climate change, etc. that they WANT to grow and should have the option of growing to maintain their biodiversity and have control over local farming that benefits them, not multinational agro-biotech companies only using them as guinea pigs for profit. Practicing agroecology in these areas has already been proven to be much more beneficial to their soil and their health and increases yield over time while industrial agriculture goes the other way or stays constant while depleting nutrients in soil and threatening health through the pesticides sprayed. So don't put that guilt trip on me that I am denying food to these good people because I can assure you it is quite the opposite. And what is behind saying "we may be too good to eat them?" They are already in 80% of the processed foods we eat and they may well already be having adverse effects on our health and are having an effect on our environment and the livelihoods of organic farmers who have been touched by their transgenic contamination. And they were put in our foods and out into the environment without proper testing or knowledge of health effects. So are you saying that Africans should just allow this untested unstable technology to be shoved down their throats against their will as well when there are options they would rather employ that are natural?

You should also enlighten yourself to the fact that the amount of food is not the main problem (though in some areas it is, but that goes back to natural breeding for climate change, drought, and also access) but access. I also suggest you read up on what this irresponsible technology has done to farmers in India, who like farmers in Africa will have to spend much on seeds that automatically terminate themselves requiring them to buy more seeds each year at great cost to them (which is why people also still starve) along with the pesticides and herbicides attached that have already been shown to be unhealthy to humans and the environment, especially soil.

There is no need for GMOS in ANY country on this planet. Feeding the hungry is a false meme put out by the biotech industry. They are not feeding ANYONE now and the world claims over a billion hungry people, while obesity reigns supreme here. It is our economic policies that restrict access and infiltrate their countries with cheap food aid to make them dependent on the farmers we pay huge subsidies to in order to grow corn to make Cargill and Monsanto richer that is at the core of this as well. Also, while they grow soy and corn on land to feed our insatiable meat habit and "luxury" crops like flowers and coffee to import to European markets that should be for their food ( to pay back World Bank And IMF loans) people in Africa starve. THEIR LAND IS NOT THEIR OWN, and that is one of the main problems behind this.

This is also not a plan to feed people.This is a plan to use their land to grow soy for animal feed to feed the lust for meat eating that is now taking over China and India, and will not abate much anywhere else, including here. Do you have any idea how much forestland has been cleared in order to raise cattle for beef production? Do you have any idea how destructive that is to ecosystems and in exacerbating climate change and pollution? It is a vicious cycle that must be broken before it breaks us.

Farmers and campesinos in Africa, India, Latin America, Europe, etc. want NATURAL SEEDS that can be SAVED, without having to drench them in PESTICIDE in order to grow them. It can be done, it is being done, and we must fight like they did in India to make sure that the farmers of Africa and this world including here have the freedom to grow their seeds their way in order to protect the biodiversity and also culture of their land. Anything less is supporting food fascism and corporate degradation of our global environment with monocultures that kill biodiversity and destroy our water resources which are already scarce in many of these areas. That doesn't do the farmers of Africa or this planet any good in the long term.

Very well said, and in great and telling detail.

Sorry, that's just ignorant.

Ignorant is a complete emotional hatred of one company, Monsanto, and the belief that they are the end of the world.

And in case you haven't noticed, Big Agri-Business runs this country, and probably the world, from genetic engineering, to the mass migration of illegal aliens, into this country, and probably many, many more that we don't know about, that isn't publicized, for cheap labor. They pull the strings at the White House, definitely.

It is not about an emotional hatred of one company. It is disingenuous to bring this down to that one simple common denominator just to disguise your own ignorance about this scheme. In case you missed it this is about Cargill paper as well. There are MANY players in this, with Monsanto being one of the main ones. It is OUTRAGE over what is being done on a global basis to dehumanize agriculture and actually starve people for profit while PATENTING LIFE and building a monoculture world that will not be able to sustain increases in global population. And there is a REASON to hate Monsanto BTW, they KILL LIFE. If that doesn't evoke any emotion in you, that speaks only for you, not me.

It involves NO emotion from me.

As far as Africa goes, it's a shithole, completely corrupt, just like Mexico, and nothing is ever going to come of it in my lifetime. How much of your money goes to helping the poor, poor, starving Africans? I can tell you, not a dime of mine, I've got my own problems to address, right here in the United States.

And I truly believe that your Hate of Monsanto, is rooted in something deeper. I have to work every day, you seem to just look for articles on Monsanto to post here. Am I correct about that?

Outrage? No, none from me. Apathy? Yeah, quite a bit of that.

And my ignorance over this scheme? No, it's not ignorance, I just don't care. Never been there, never will.

I work too, and no, I don't look for news on Monsanto, I look for news on biotech and GMOS and they just happen to be at the center of much of it. Why does that even matter to you? You got stock in them? And really, the number of articles here on Monsanto or even GMOs can' t even compare to the articles posted here EVERYDAY about some lame RW stunt or mouthpiece or some form of political backbiting, or the "Tea Party." But yes, there is a deeper reason for my caring. I have a moral conscience, and I care about equality. I don't like pollution or toxic water or air or food, and I want to make the world a better place for my child and his as well as those who don't have what they need to survive, and I don't happen to think Africa is a shithole. How nice of you. Once again, don't transpose your own lack of knowledge of this subject onto me. Perhaps you should then also think about only posting in threads that deal with your concerns.

And it is a quick fix to longterm disaster.