
The GMO debate won't be settled technocratically - well_i_never
https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/why-science-cant-break-the-gmo-stalemate
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pella
related:

[https://undark.org/2019/06/27/monsanto-gmo-
crusade/](https://undark.org/2019/06/27/monsanto-gmo-crusade/) 06.27.2019 / BY
Kavin Senapathy "I Was Lured Into Monsanto’s GMO Crusade. Here’s What I
Learned. Public debates about science and technology are rarely ever just
about the science and technology."

 _"...Monsanto hired Crowe, a communications strategist, as their director of
millennial engagement. ... Crowe preached a scientific gospel of GMOs that
went something like this: If you’re pro-science, you must be pro-GMO. If
you’re anti-Monsanto, then you’re anti-GMO. Therefore, if you’re anti-
Monsanto, you’re anti-science. His objective, it seemed, was to render
opposition to GMOs as ridiculous as belief in Bigfoot, and to amass a movement
that could be counted on to shout that message from the rooftops. ..."_

 _"... catalyzed an awakening, and suddenly I saw the landscape of the GMO
battle with aerial clarity. Everything I’d written and said in support of GMOs
was factually correct, but my approach had been all wrong. It’s impossible to
have a constructive conversation about GMOs without acknowledging that
underlying the unscientific claims made by many GMO opponents is a legitimate
desire for trustworthy behavior from the companies that dominate the
agricultural marketplace. ..."_

 _"... The entities that push unscientific, fear-based narratives about GMOs
will never be defeated if the powers that be neglect to sincerely tackle the
people’s underlying mistrust. As I said in a speech to fellow skeptics this
past fall on the steps of the Sacramento capitol building, “While the
scientific method may be the way we interact with the world, largely by
choice, the scientific method is wielded by people, and what drives those
people are values.” I’m hopeful that Monsanto will get the message, but I’m
not holding my breath."_

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yorwba
It's ironic that right after criticising the conflation of science, GMOs and
Monsanto, there's a sentence that conflates GMOs and Monsanto. Surely
Monsanto's communcations director had the objective to render opposition to
_Monsanto_ as ridiculous as belief in Bigfoot.

Keeping closely related concepts separate in mindspace is hard work.

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The_rationalist
I lack knowledge. Are there competitive alternative OGM makers than Monsanto?
Otherwise, GMO and Monsanto can be conflated _currently_

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dogma1138
Bayer, Syngenta, Dow, Pioneer and the list goes on and on and that’s for
crops.

The most common GMO product sold to consumers isn’t even a crop but rather the
blue rose.

As far as crop GMOs go then the majority of the yield is soybeans for fuel not
for human consumption.

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chr1
GMO debate will be settled by development of crops that will be order of
magnitude better than existing varieties. It is easy to dismiss the current
GMOs that are a bit cheaper, but something like non-toxic cassava, perennial
wheat, or twice more productive variety of any staple crop used in poor
countries will get widespread use despite all protestations of anti-gmo people
because it will save lives in an apparent way. And after some time people in
rich countries too would have to accept that gmos are useful.

