New statistic! 20% of Americans think the universe is geocentric!

[chequita guevara]

Not merely that, but because they are patented, farmers are prohibbited by law from saving seeds.

[Az]

But if it still makes economic sense for the farmers, why oppose it?

And if it doesn't why wouldn't they buy it?

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Winston
I'm not talking about the article, but how the questions were posed.

You probably didn't RTFA, because it did mention something about the questions.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
Yes, never exclude the possibility that people answering a survey might be messing with the pollster's mind.

Sure. But unless you are assuming that a significant % of the subjects lied and/or messed around, which is wild, to say the least, such surveys are relatively reliable.

More reliable than people speaking from personal experience.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Az
But if it still makes economic sense for the farmers, why oppose it?

And if it doesn't why wouldn't they buy it?

We'll make a cappy out of you yet!

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Az
But if it still makes economic sense for the farmers, why oppose it?

And if it doesn't why wouldn't they buy it?

Like usual, short term gains result in long term destruction. However the farmers aren't so informed.

[Sava]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
Isn't gravity caused by invisible rubber bands?

no


Intelligent Falling

remember?

[Az]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker


We'll make a cappy out of you yet!

I am one of the QC commies.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Az
But if it still makes economic sense for the farmers, why oppose it?

And if it doesn't why wouldn't they buy it?

Who says it does? First off, most of the seed catalogues have been bought up by the GMO corps, who then discontinue non-patented lines. If you have no choice, you go with what you got.

2nd, there's a prisoners' dilema involved. If no farmers used GMOs, they'd all be better off, since the market wouldn't be flooded with products, driving down everyone's return. If only a few used GMOs, they'd have a competitive advantage over those who didn't. So everyone will use them, and they all will sufffer. So more small farms will go under, being snapped up by big farms, which means more corporate farming, with all the attendent problems it produces.

3rd, farmers are human, and can be convinced that something that's bad for them is good for them.

GMOs are one of those things that are great in theory, but needed to be understood within an existing social context to understand what the real world results will be, much like ending agro subsidies, or the disaster that was the Green Revolution.

Now, in socialist agriculture, GMOs would be a great boon.

[Az]

Who says it does? First off, most of the seed catalogues have been bought up by the GMO corps, who then discontinue non-patented lines. If you have no choice, you go with what you got.

So you're claiming there there are no non-GM seeds on the market? I claim BS.

2nd, there's a prisoners' dilema involved. If no farmers used GMOs, they'd all be better off, since the market wouldn't be flooded with products, driving down everyone's return. If only a few used GMOs, they'd have a competitive advantage over those who didn't. So everyone will use them, and they all will sufffer. So more small farms will go under, being snapped up by big farms, which means more corporate farming, with all the attendent problems it produces.

That may be true, but it has been true for all crop enhancing measures since we crossed sufficiency levels for agriculture.

3rd, farmers are human, and can be convinced that something that's bad for them is good for them.

Yes, but it's not just small farmers. It's agricultural companies too.

GMOs are one of those things that are great in theory, but needed to be understood within an existing social context to understand what the real world results will be, much like ending agro subsidies, or the disaster that was the Green Revolution.

What's the green revolution?



ALL of these arguments have nothing to do with the fearmongering of morons in europe that call GM products "Frankenfood", etc.

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by Ming
I have to chuckle... We do advertising awareness studies. And we include a factor we call ghost awareness. We can ask a bunch of people if they have seen our ads on TV. And even if we have NEVER EVER run an ad on TV, we sometimes get at least 15% of the respondents claiming they saw our ad... and actually even playing back to us copy points.

You could probably ask people if Abe Lincoln is still alive, and get at least 15% of the people to claim he is.

I've seen that kind of study.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Az
ALL of these arguments have nothing to do with the fearmongering of morons in europe that call GM products "Frankenfood", etc.

There are documented problems with GM products.

For starters, the spliced genes can and will pollute the environment. IOW, through various vectors these genes become transposed into other organisms. You can have things like consequential financial damages. There is already a case in Canada where a farmer was sued for violating Monsanto's patents as certain genes were found in the farmer's crops, but the farmer insisted he had never used any of Monsanto's seeds.

That's just the beginning. Imagine what it will be like when a pest-resistant gene gets into a pest. Fun time, eh?

All this hype surrounding GM reminds me of fiascos such as DDT and CFC.

[Theben]

Originally posted by MOBIUS
Show me a UK poll and I will comment...

Actually I will comment - basically anyone in the UK younger than in their early 30's has suffered an inferior education that is getting progressively worse as the years go by due to the cumulative 'dumbing down' of GCSEs from the time that they replaced the old 'O' levels...

We are starting to get children passing English and Maths exams who are barely literate and numerate...

But wait... it's the AMERICAN education system that's broken- clearly all asians and Euros are smarter than dumb americans!