The art of magic is to divert attention to a different direction.
The art of lobbying is to distract from the crucial issues.
“You can only solve a problem if you find the right question”:
Why do we need pesticides?
Life without pesticides seems unthinkable, and to question their usefulness is almost a sacrilege.
That two Swiss initiatives dare to commit. (In Switzerland laws can be changed by votations)
“We need pesticides because so many people are starving”
Half of the world’s grain is not eaten by humans.
The (agricultural) economic policy causes systematic food waste: Since decades the industrialized countries are complaining about their price-destroying overproduction, and therefore subsidize the destruction of food by feeding cattle and cars.
While millions starve (to death).
Why do we need harmful pesticides to bumper yields when economic policy destroys way more food than all insects, fungi and flowers together?
Switzerland imports up to half of its consumption, often from countries with extreme poverty. (Not only all rice is imported, a large part of the wheat comes from India).
People do not die of hunger because there is not enough food, but because they have too little money.
Hunger is not an agricultural problem, but a political one. And a moral.
The agricultural monopoly of agro-chemistry
To produce food, it takes land, rain, seeds, manure, machines, farmers and knowhow. Nothing more.
The only legitimation of the pesticides is the hunger relief of our always openly irresponsible toxic industries.
This noble humanitarian commitment allowed them to acquire the leadership over agriculture, and to enrich fields, food and people with their toxins, a lucrative sales promotion for their pharmaceutical departments.
And at the same time, the agro-industrial companies invest in land-grabbing and buying up all seed companies, they ban traditional local varieties and abolish the farmers’ privilege*, in order to establish an exclusive monopoly over food production.
The (agro-) economic policy entrusts hunger aid to managers who earn more in one hour than the poor people in a lifetime. And who promise to solve all those problems that we would not have without them.
Agricultural fuel for overweight Offroaders and SUVs?
Smaller cars and steaks and in return healthy and well-fed children would be better for almost everyone.
Except for the immoral industries and investors.
* Farmer’s privilege: Farmers used to have the right to sow their own seeds.
