Veritasium video about Monsanto.
Oh, were back to this? Feel like it’s been a decade since this was all in the spotlight. Haven’t watched it yet, but has anything changed, or is it the same stuff as before? I actually was wondering not too long ago what happened to them because, at least for me, I didn’t hear anything about them for years now.
The only thing that’s changed is the generation of the viewership
I have seen plants sold in shops with warnings that you can’t propagate them. Dunno why because it was so easy to do.
I’ve seen that, but I always assumed they meant you couldn’t take a cutting from a plant in the store without buying the whole plant, which, I feel like that’s fair. Trying to prevent people from propagating their own plants after they’ve paid for them is asinine though.
It’s like the start of a movie having a disclaimer about “You wouldn’t download a car!!!”
Pirate the seeds. And seed them for others.
Pirate bay for plants.
You wouldn’t download a plant
But Bill Nye said Monsanto was the best so ???
I’ve been looking into this a little more and apparently Carey Gillam is buddy-buddy with RFK Jr. So I’m not sure how much I trust her.
Still, I had no idea Monsanto was responsible for Agent Orange. Learning that was enough to make watching this video worth it. Still, as with any other topic, you’ll want to look for multiple resources.
The whole Monsanto bullshit is something I’ve been looking into for a long time my man. They are an evil company.
No disagreements here.
There’s nothing wrong with genetically modifying foods. The problem is the exploitative legal contracts that they come with.
You don’t even need GMO to create a crop that is covered via patent.
https://mnhardy.umn.edu/apples/licensing
The University of Minnesota has a large apple breeding system to create new varieties that it sells licenses to. The university funds the development by selling licenses on the trees.
We need FOSS seeds rather than proprietary ones.
We need to abandon the patent system entirely.
Oh I’m aware of how Monsanto works.
I don’t think that it’s unreasonable to expect to recoup the millions you spent on R&D for developing a new crop.
Yes, the length of ownership should be much shorter, but until the world governments collapse, technological advancements cost money and resources.
If you remove the ability to recoup R&D costs before addressing the need for private r&d at all, you’re going to stifle innovation.
This isn’t an endorsement for the current system, but these processes will continue to exist until the current system is replaced.
Of r&d came from any sort of university program or study at the facilities by any graduate or undergrads we already paid for the r&d more than likely it’s like when the government sold means and military vehicles vans gear to local cops we already paid once for it the first time and we are getting charged again
You can argue that until you’re blue in the face and it won’t mean shit.
While the system of government these drugs/crops are developed under is capitalist, we’re stuck with the same shit.
This is an instance of “don’t hate the player, hate the game.”
It’s totally reasonable to hate the players. The game can’t continue without players. Legality is NOT morality.
I will hate the game and the player, thank you very much. Even under this system, other choices could have been made that are neither illegal or financially nonviable, so Monsanto is very much responsible for the choices they did make. They’re not victims of the systems, they’re gleefully pursuing everything the system lets them get away with.
Of course, if you want things to change, it is indeed changes to law and government incentives that need to be pursued. But in order for that to happen, you need enough people to get upset about the current state of things, and for that you need concrete examples. And it doesn’t get more concrete than this.
Until the game changes to socialism, this is the reality of drug development.
The farmers caught replanting seeds time and time again have been shown to intentionally skirt the rules.
Never thought I’d see Monsanto shilling on Lemmy.
Sorry to interrupt your circle jerk.
The reality is farmers could use their own seeds. They don’t because Monsanto saves them money and updates the seeds year to year to optimize with changing conditions.
The “Oh your seeds fertilized mine and I can’t do anything about it” is bullshit.
Frankly fresh inexpensive and healthy meals are available at rock bottom prices in the state for over 85% of the population. Our local grocery stores would make kings and sultans enraged with jealousy. I have little issue with the American and Western food chain. Monsanto whether you like it or not contributes heavily to it’s success.
Imagine how much cheaper food would be if Monsanto wasn’t constantly hitting farmers over the head with a legal club
Good luck finding any government willing to subsidize the cost of creating high yield seeds 🤷♂️
They’ve already subsidized basically every other aspect of farming, I like our chances
No, there is no question of Monsanto’s greed here. This what capitalism does, it incentivizes greed over sustainability.
Rather than requiring farmers to dump saved seeds and purchase new patented seeds each year, they could use a licensing system with a fair royalty on crop yields so that farmers do not have to take on the massive administrative burden of ensuring Monsanto seeds/crops don’t mix with non Monsanto ones (because if they don’t do this, they’ll get sued into oblivion). Those that have a license can use saved seeds from the prior year.
This is the corporation that said Round Up was “safer than table salt” and “practically nontoxic” to mammals, birds and fish. The International Agency for Research on Cancer recognizes Round Up as a probable human carcinogen at sufficiently high exposures.
Monsanto also supplied the US government with Agent Orange during the Vietnam war which, as we all know, caused countless cases of cancer among US war veterans and the people of Vietnam.
Fuck Monsanto.
