Originally posted by Gank
Dont watch Penn and Teller, didnt know they were experts on the subject.
The reason I mentioned Penn & Teller is cause they are one of the few mainstream programmes to feature an interview with
Norman Borlaug. This is the man who is the father of the The Green Revolution and is credited with saving over 1 billion people from death from starvation.
When this guy speaks about world hunger you know you're listening to an expert
Norman is fiercely anti-organic and pro GM.
Originally posted by Gank
Just read up on what you were saying in that thread and I think you misunderstand the main reason people oppose GM foods, its not because its unsafe or unnatural, but because its being done by companys like Monsanto purely for profit, patented foods are not going to help eliminate world hunger.
The simple fact is that I'm not wrong about the reasoning behind the anti-GM movement. Sure there are some people who are against gene patenting and believe that Monsanto is purely out for profit.
Guess what. I'm one of them.
Lets say that the main reason that the anti-GM lobby is exactly that which you say. That they distrust Monsanto and that they hate patenting of genes. How would you fight that? I personally would think that lobbing against the introduction of gene patenting was something worth doing. That is the best way to stop this nonsense. If genes can't be patented it removes Monsanto's biggest weapon from their arsenal.
Now compare that with what the anti-GM movement actually do.
Refering to Frankenfoods.
Consistantly claim that GM is untested and unnatural
Refer to debunked scientific studies and then claim that GM is proven unsafe.
Tearing up the crops planted as part of scientific studies
Convince third world nations to reject GM-seeds given to them for free.
Does that really sound to you like the actions of people who are pro-GM but just anti-Monsanto? I've hardly peep out of the anti-GM movement in regards to lobbying against gene-patenting. If they were anti-GM for the reasons you claim it would be their biggest issue. In fact most of the people I've heard complain about gene-patenting are actually people with similar opions to myself.
The simple fact is that the anti-GM movement is led by and consists largely of people who believe that GM is unnatural and therefore wrong. These people won't be satisfied with any amount of studies into GM. They won't be happy using GM if it was regulated and companies like Monsanto were prevented from using it to exploit the third world. They hate GM and they want all research into it stopped and buried. And that is why (to quote Penn & Teller again) until they themselves are starving, they need to shut the f**k up.
What needs to be done is not an end to work on GM. What needs to be done is more research in universities and other organisations for whom profit is not the bottom line. Work done by these sort of people can put an end to world hunger (at least temporarily, we'll need to do something about population control sooner or later).
