Not since the 1960ies has there been active and massive demonstrations over political and economical issues involving both youth and an older generation. As in the early 1960ies the news media is siding with the established powers at this stage, seemingly directed to treat the issue as a passing fad. Like in the 1960ies the establishment's arrogant and punitive attitude is like gasoline on a fire: refusal to recognize and address the real issues is fanning the fire.
And just like in the early 1960ies there is a sleeping giant's wondering: "What are they demonstrating against now...do they want to save a few turtles again?" or "Can't they see that we have billions of dollars invested and cannot just stop because they don't like what our industry is doing? or "What do they know about global economic issues?"
As it turns out the demonstrators know quite a lot about "globalization". Enough to understand that globalization is a metaphor for manipulating global markets, global economies and global choices in general where consumers are not invited and not allowed to participate in anything other than to buy what is placed before them. When corporations like Monsanto/Pharmacia and Du Pont take massive ownership over seed companies and attempt to eliminate choice for growers, it is globalization. When they (through their friends and allies in the World Trade Organization) attempt to deem it as illegal to reject this elimination of choice [to refuse genetically engineered seeds], it is globalization. When Monsanto can get the US AID to use taxpayers money to destroy local seed distributors in developing countries by subsidizing GE-seeds and sell them much below the production cost, it is globalization.When Monsanto/ Pharmacia through their friends and ex-employees in the Food and Drug Administration deem it illegal to label milk as NOT CONTAINING POSILAC, Monsanto's rBGH hormone, it is globalization.
Adverse information about what these growth-hormones do to the animals and eventually to people, is suppressed as well. Two journalists who defied their employer FOX TV and were standing by their story, were fired and have been un-employable since. What globalization has come to mean is that "information" is designed and packaged by global media giants to suit the "global economy", controlled by a very small group with essentially the same interest but in different areas -- to protect huge investments by controlling markets. The demonstrations that are growing stronger from event to event, are sending a message to these globalizing giants that the widening gulf between their economic interests and consumer/health interests is not to be taken lightly. So far that message has been ignored.Competition at this level is taking on a completely new meaning. If a global corporation is lead by a chairman who sees consumer freedom-of-choice to be the competition and uses his/(her) global conglomerate with its considerable economic power to win and quell this freedom, we are all in deep trouble. Attempts to marginalize or to crush demonstrations against such quelling are now taking on a StarWars-like atmosphere. Police in sinister looking riot-uniforms are being equipped with the latest weapons to control crowds. The more successful the police and the media-networks are to belittle the demonstrations, the wider the interest gulf becomes and the stronger the opposition grows. It follows an almost mechanical formula. The Evil Empire -- a phrase coined by Ronald Reagan about the dictatorial Soviet Union -- suddenly appears on the home front.
When the government and large waste conglomerates have unilaterally decided to spread the nation's sludge and technowaste on food producing land and deem it "an acceptable risk", without giving consumers a real choicet, they have again created a gulf. This time between those with a global but narrow interest to get rid of sludge and those who don't want the nations food producing soils to be gambled with and possibly become forever damaged, charged with heavy metals and toxic chemicals with further direct impact on health.
Science was once a tool to achieve knowledge for all. Scientific knowledge was published for all to see, question and learn from the entire process. In the hands of global commercial interests, science has become a tool to achieve both proprietary knowledge (to be used competitively) and more importantly, to hide the real and complex links between a corporate activity and the effects on the global population. Taylor-made scientific reports, issued by and paid for by corporate economies are often produced to prove no relation between one chemical and a certain chosen disease to "prove" safety of their product. If a relation proving the opposite was discovered, the report would naturally never be published by the corporation. Likewise, university research funded [directly or indirectly] by the corporation would not be seen either ... in the meantime, the general relationship between increased production/distribution of chemicals and the general increase of cancer and allergies etc. is a perfect match. Hidden in this process is the most crucial issue of all: who shall ultimately decide about the future environment and health of our planet -- Monsanto et al or the young generation that shall live out their lives in the new globally chemical environment?
Carl Lindstrom
carl@websida.com