Two Competing Visions of Food and the Future -- Bill Gates and Dr. Vandana Shiva
At times it's good to review the obvious for the same reasons we still say "I love you" when others already know that.
Food, farmlands, biodiversity, envisioning the future are paths so worn that we lose sight of those who would shuttle us into their more synthetic or profitable paths.
Thinking about humans' future, can Vandana Shiva and Bill Gates coordinate a future for human good? Whose activities will do the greatest good for the greatest number?
Monsanto's insurgency and Gates' insurgency on farmland and food supply are facts. It's even said that their goals are the same.
Human producers of food are the worst sufferers of the world's food crisis.
Diversity of species is the base on which we produce our food. Kill biodiversity, kill food. Yet we wouldn't think that, given the caloric intake of rich countries, which doesn't necessarily mean nutritional intake. It's also true that whole food is medicine.
Industrial farming imposes water pollution, climate change; it destroys biodiversity, and sacrifices 8,500 crops for 8 commodities.
Eating is a ecological, ethical, political and agricultural act.
No more separation between those who grow the food and those who eat food.
No more for-profit separation of humans from nature's abundance.
How old this is shows how old these food and future vision conflicts are.
Forget Brand, and for now just take in some information.
Who is buying up Earth essentials is who we need to see.
If we keep on our radar the names of those controlling land and energy, we can glimpse their visions of humans' future, how they use theirs and others' power to get humans there.
Collecting land and knowledge (data and research) is what the 1% do. To them, human free will is secondary and not self evident. The way I see them so far (not very well), their efforts don't encourage a collective unity of any vision but theirs. Their efforts don't look democratic. To find out what they know requires FOIAs, political will, both kind of useless when finding out what the Davos crowd's up to.
I don't credit our political opponents with foresight or wisdom, yet this 1%'er activity might be one reason some Republicans say democracy is not important. The politics of AZ vote count theatrics to AI algorithms to fascism to plutocracy and autocracy are 1% dark money donor financed. History's shown that however benevolent such governance begins, it goes downhill for anyone but the 1%.
So, we're not just facing the Kochs, Mercers and Waltons' Republican visions. We need to see the vision of a big donor to Democrats, Bill Gates. I'd like to optimistically believe he's a force for a good anthropocene, but so far, his activities don't support my politics or vision of the future.
Some want to guide Earth's future while others pursue space control. I don't mind being among the puny humans who can only watch them, as long as my descendants get to live a better future than what's being envisioned by the 1% right now. Beyond Biden and Harris, I don't see any way this government will 'swerve' their power. I see them controlling global wealth and allowing the veneer of democracy to those humans who want it.
Some readings...
Your thoughts...?