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CounterPunch
November
19, 2002
Politically Modified Organizsms
by CAROL NORRIS
They have spliced flounder genes into strawberries,
mice genes into potatoes and the hog's milk gene into corn. They
also have corn that can create its own insecticide, fending off
pests. When the pests eat the corn, the insecticide blows up
its stomach. Such is a day in the life of genetically modified
organisms (GMOs) and those that love them.
This is similar to a day in the life
of our politicians and their ilk. On the surface, politicians
look like naturally occurring, by the people, for the people
folks. But like GMOs, on closer inspection their uniformity belies
their reengineering. The Democrats and the Republicans have been
vastly modified by potent political ambition and they have inoculated
themselves with lobbyists' money, making them all but impervious
to the needs of their pesky, teeming constituents. For the Democrats,
this proved to be a very effective pesticide, keeping their voters
from crawling to the polls, as well as turning the Independents
Green. I call them all PMOs (politically modified organisms).
Much like they do with pharmaceuticals
and irradiated and hormone-injected beef and GMOs, the PMOs find
it unnecessary or more likely too bothersome to conduct studies
on the long-term effects of their products and their strategies.
Take again the recent example of the Democrat election debacle.
It seems quite clear that the Democrat PMOs, while trying to
maintain their position in the political fields--and defying
all natural laws of survival--have inadvertently perfected and
planted politicians who have the singular ability to defeat themselves
in election campaigns.
This new variation is unable to feed
and water itself even with a cornucopia of election-winning issues
on its plate: corporate scandals blatantly indicating many of
those populating the highest public offices, the economy, no
credible evidence of declaring war on Iraq. The list is a long
one. Any one of these, if the roles were reversed, the Republicans
would've pounced on.
The fear-wilted Democrats have forgotten
that the laws of natural selection apply to the laws of political
election--one does not get elected if one presents nothing that
perpetuates the political species or the stated values of that
species. The strain of politician that is unable to be differentiated
from its neighbor in a climate begging for it will not survive
as its sameness weakens the entire system and eventually will
be selected out of the political gene pool.
Variability keeps democracy and species
alive. It provides an array of resistances and strengths assuring
the survival of the species if a famine or a microbe or a rogue
politician affects one strain because the others who have a different
make up won't be harmed by it. It is at the very heart of evolution,
just as it is at the very heart of our democracy. Our ecosystem,
our political system and our economic system are dying from a
lack of true democracy.
Take Monsanto. (Please.) The behemoth
of the GMO world is owner of three quarters of the patents for
genetically modified crops and produces 90% of the world's seed
technology. It possesses a dizzying array of connections to governmental
agencies--far too many too enumerate here--but a few examples
are: the Supreme Court via Clarence Thomas, Donald Rumsfeld via
direct business ties, John Ashcroft who received more money from
Monsanto than any other politician, with the runner up being
Larry Combest, the Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee.
Monsanto says it can help save the world's
starving and impoverished with GMOs. How lovely and altruistic
it all sounds in theory. But in practice, it puts a stranglehold
on economic and biodiversity. As Monsanto is feeding people with
its GMOs, it's taking away the livelihood of the local farmers
by removing the locus of production and putting it back in the
good ole' US of A, lining the pockets of its top executives rather
than the pockets of the farmers. In so doing, it puts the small
farms out of business, and perpetuates a chronic cycle of poverty
and dependence on Monsanto. What a great system. For Monsanto.
In Mexico, Monsanto's crops are cross-pollinating
with the corn of the local farmers, destroying the extremely
important biodiversity there. In Iowa, some organic farmers'
crops have also been cross-pollinated with GM corn, disqualifying
these farmers from organic status, robbing them of their right
to the livelihood of their choice and reducing their income substantially.
Other US farmers, experimenting with Monsanto crops, have unwittingly
sold their soul and can only plant when and what Monsanto tells
them.
In the aftermath of the mid-term elections,
with our Monsanto-esque, government, I was thinking we could
take the example set by Zambia who refused the offer of free
GMO corn, knowing that among other things, accepting the corn
has potential to destabilize food security. We can take a stand
on a few things to help restabilize some things right here at
home.
First, perhaps, we could borrow our 8th
graders' biology books to loan to the Democrat strategists to
help them understand laws of natural selection and variability,
etc to help them out in 2004. But wait a minute. Then, we'd be
stuck with the same Democrats.
And, come to think of it, there aren't
enough biology books to go around to all of our students as it
is. Take for example the 20 poorest schools in Philadelphia that
were privatized--handed over to Edison Schools Inc., because
the city had no clue what else to do with them. Then the stock
market fell and Edison's shares plummeted. So big trucks came
and took the kids' textbooks, lab supplies, computers and musical
instruments. Edison was hard up for cash. Rotten break for the
kids. But at least, as Edison's founder Chris Whittle so cleverly
and very seriously suggested, they weren't forced to work in
the school's offices as free child labor. (In a school of 600,
he cooed, this free child labor would be equal 75 adults on salary.)
So, the kids, with no school equipment, might as well go home
and watch a lot of TV and dream of the day when their Social
Security gets privatized.
Another corporation just doing its part
to help create the next generation of MMOs (media modified organisms.)
Which brings us to the media. This is a biggie worth a lot of
consideration, as you can't have a fully realized democracy without
independent media. We can start by recognizing that mainstream
media is owned by a small handful: AOL/Time Warner, GE, Disney,
Viacom and News Corporation. This handful has its fingers in
all sorts of private interests--including military ones--making
sure what you view is homogenized, 'soft news' and in keeping
with those interests.
I know this already, you say. And I only
watch PBS and listen to NPR. Okay. But are you aware that everyone
who sits on the board of directors of the Corporation for Public
Broadcasting (CPB)- the extremely influential agency that dispenses
the federal funds to public radio and TV--is nominated by the
president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate? Not
that his nominations would be agenda-driven, of course. In addition,
before becoming the president and CEO of CPB, Robert Coonrod
was the deputy managing director of Voice of America, run by
the US government.
Did you see our cuddly Secretary of Anticipatory
Self-Defense, Donald Rumsfeld on The Newshour with Jim Lehrer
when he charged that Saddam Hussein previously ousted weapons
inspectors (presumably as evidence of why weapons inspectors
will not work again)? This is patently false. And of course,
Lehrer had to know it was false, too. UNSCOM chief, Richard Butler,
removed those weapons inspectors. But this error was somehow
not corrected or questioned. It simply slid right on by and people
who think PBS gives them 'the real news' were misinformed.
And have you noticed all the commercials
that have been quietly wiggling their way into PBS' programming?
These ads are dressed in a more tasteful, more sophisticated
cloak making them feel less advertise-ish. But advertisements
they remain. Isn't the absence of commercials supposed to be
the defining feature that distinguishes the public networks from
the commercial ones? Like the frog who thought it was sitting
in cold water doesn't realize it is slowly being boiled to death,
PBS is ever-so slowly introducing more and more and longer and
longer ads. And before you know it, we'll be up to our ears,
boiled alive in advertisements, forgetting the time when there
were none.
Corporations have funded PBS behind the
scenes forever. This is not new. But, the blatant airing of these
full-fledged ads seems to be a symptom of the increasing audacity
and authority of corporations, flexing their muscles on PBS'
airwaves. And if they are flexing their muscles in public, what
are they doing behind the scenes?
All said, yes of course there are some
great shows on PBS. And, generally, it continues to be much better
than commercial network drivel. But, as you watch your favorite
shows, just be aware that your eyeballs are being handed over
to the likes of the Monsanto Group.
And so we turn the dial to NPR. Same
story, different medium. For example, All Things Considered completely
misreported the recent peace demonstration in Washington, stating
that there were less than 10,000 in attendance.
After being bombarded with complaints,
they printed a correction on their website. And throughout the
following week they stated on the air that it was clear the crowd
was substantially larger than what they had reported, acknowledging
it was upwards of 100,000. It took the protests of people like
us for them to replace the missing zero.
NPR misreported this probably because
they rarely say much that is substantially different than the
other major media who, with a few surprising exceptions, like
The Washington Post, minimized or ignored the march in Washington
and San Francisco. The difference is that PBS and NPR are very
careful to present "balanced views," for fear some
conservative pundit will pitch a fit, crying "bias."
They certainly can't risk their funding getting pulled. You don't
even see the pretense of balance on the conservative shows.
Like PBS, NPR's audience tends to be
middle and upper class. Just look at PBS' commercials. Who are
the people who can afford those products? And who needs those
financial services? They seem to have forgotten the hope of the
Carnegie Commission Report of 35 years ago that stated public
broadcasting should "provide a voice for groups in the community
that may otherwise be unheard."
Another place that is supposed to be
a voice for all the people is the courts. I heard some say after
the November elections, "Don't worry, we just have a couple
of years until the tide turns." But there is no turning
tide in the Supreme Court. This judicial pool is deep and still
as the justices hold their seats for life. And the fact that
two seats on the bench might be vacated during the next two years
has Bush chomping at his compassionate conservative bit. It will
only take two votes to overrule Roe v. Wade. And that is just
the beginning. There are a whole host of other issues potentially
threatened by ultra-conservative appointments.
The courts remedy civil rights violations.
The federal courts are the only check against potential governmental
excesses--in the name of fighting terrorism. These excesses can
affect an individual's rights. Whoever sits on these courts greatly
influence all our future personal freedoms. Clinton had to tiptoe
through his nominations, making sure they weren't too liberal.
Why should the ultra-conservatives plough right through?
They shouldn't. So, break out the filibuster.
This is a way to curtail an influx of ultra-conservative judges
from the lower federal courts to the Supreme Court. Call/email/fax
your congressperson and let them know that you know how crucial
this is and ask them to be willing to filibuster. In addition,
let them know that the Homeland Security Act that just passed
in the House and is now before the Senate has hidden in the depths
of its pages promises of egregious civil liberties violations.
If you don't call, the next time you do, your call and your email
and your fax and all the websites you go to and the credit card
purchases you make and oh-so much more could legally be watched.
Speaking of Congress, I think we should
start an initiative like the one that was unfortunately just
defeated in Oregon that called for all GMO foods to be labeled
as such. All Congressional PMOs should have mandatory labeling.
Like political Hester Prins, they should have to wear the logos
of their corporate campaign contributors on their lapels, confessing
in whose corporate beds they've slept. (Don't hold your breath
for those meaningful election reforms. Better yet, you better
hold it or it will fall right through the cavernous loophole
that states national parties can't take soft money. However,
entities set up by the very same national parties can. Such meaningful
reform.)
I imagine, however, the labeling would
start a ghastly new fashion trend, as lapels would by necessity
become enormous, flapping down those congressional halls like
the ears of an unwitting circus elephant: Congresswear. But more
likely those whose want the truth to remain concealed would contribute
6 million dollars to fight against labeling and the idea would
be defeated, as happened in Oregon.
But take heart. They've recently transplanted
pig testicles onto the back of a rat. The rat is now able to
ejaculate pig sperm. In addition, the genes for speech development
have been discovered in the brain and these genes were also recently
injected into the brain of a rat. It must've been a hell of a
day for the rat. A friend's husband commented: "Great. That's
all we need: a rat that can shout, "Hey! What the hell are
these pig balls doing on my back? Someone get my lawyer on the
phone!"
I figure this important development opens
the door to further testicular management. And so, while I'm
not a proponent of violence, I say let's just slide our hands
into the collective corporate jock strap and rip the balls right
off the corporate "people" who are wielding their testosterone
all over the planet. (Not too many corporate ovaries out there.)
Let's castrate the unbridled power corporations now enjoy by
rescinding the ill-fated interpretation of the 14th amendment
(based on an 1886 Supreme Court decision) that bestowed the constitutional
rights of living, breathing people to corporations. Corporate
personhood is an abomination of our constitution and an instrument
of a great many of our current ills.
And because our government loves to cite
obscure laws and norms that make sense only in the context of
the times they were introduced to rationalize current behavior,
we could then remind them of the less obscure ones that continue
to make sense such as the fact that the initial purpose of corporations
was to serve the common good. We might ask them to hold true
to those early charters and adopt the Code of Corporate Citizenship,
devised by Robert Hinckley, a corporate lawyer. The code suggests
that "directors and officers would still have a duty to
make money for shareholders," but they would simply add
a little clause in corporate law that states, "not at the
expense of the environment, human rights, the public safety,
the communities in which the corporation operates or the dignity
of its employees."
Not possible? They said the same thing
about abolishing the enormously well entrenched traditions of
slavery and forbidding women the right to vote.
And in the meantime, if corporations
keep misbehaving by cheating and looting and polluting and poisoning,
we are just going to have to give them the death penalty. That's
right; give 'em the chair. Or, at least hold them to the three
strikes law like they have here in California. While I am not
in favor of either for us flesh and bones people, as they completely
miss the root of the problems they promises to alleviate. But,
maybe they'll work better on the brick and mortar corporate people.
The Declaration of Independence states that people have the right
to change or eradicate government that no longer serves the public
interest. And I don't know about you, but sweatshops and cancer-causing
pollution and income disparity and offshore accounts don't much
serve my interest.
And finally, with the death of the corporate
person and with the assurance of a varied judiciary, to continue
to promote genetic and democratic diversity we could enlist the
efforts of some of our best Monsanto agricultural geneticists
(maybe we could lure them with the promise of some alone-time
with the rat with the pig testicles). They could splice some
of the fear-based inertia of the Democrat congress into a handful
of the most hawkish Republicans (and Democrats); replant Ari
Fleischer and his DoubleSpeak far afield from any microphone;
transplant an extra set of ovaries onto Nancy Pelosi--just in
case--to ensure she'll produce as Minority Leader and help ensure
she has the umph to stand in unwavering opposition; splice some
critical, liberated thinking and grassroots activism into us
MMOs; plant the voice of third parties so they have an equal
say in the field; bring some sunshine to state of our current
media and introduce many new species of independent media. And
then we might just be on our way to a real democracy.
To contact your congressperson about
judicial nominees and filibustering, it is simple by going to
Working
for Change
To contact your Senator/s about the Homeland
Security Act, go to www.senate.gov.
For more info on GMOs and what you can
do about them, go to Greenpeace's: www.truefoodnow.org
For more info about fairness and accuracy
in the media, go to www.fair.org.
For more info on changing corporate law
and what you can do, go to: www.divinerightofcapital.com
Carol Norris
is a psychotherapist and freelance writer. She is not affiliated
with the above-mentioned organizations. She can be contacted
at writing4justice@planet-save.com
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