(no subject)
Today in class we read an article about the ten-year US patent on the Mexican mayacoba bean, and my students, bless their full-sized hearts, went all up in arms about the injustice of biopiracy. They independently invented the concept of a non-profit public-domain seed bank! -- if not in so many words. They're not going to try to patent their invention, though. None of them knew what a patent was this morning, and now they've become fierce critics of patent system abuses.
Suddenly the endangered-strain open-pollinated heirloom corn I had them plant in April has become a flock of doves I can release from their sleeves. They were there all along, kids! They're your sudden doves.
I am shocked, I am shocked, I am shocked that these kids care. They might not care tomorrow, but they care right now.
It's a lot of fun leading the easily-lead.
Suddenly the endangered-strain open-pollinated heirloom corn I had them plant in April has become a flock of doves I can release from their sleeves. They were there all along, kids! They're your sudden doves.
I am shocked, I am shocked, I am shocked that these kids care. They might not care tomorrow, but they care right now.
It's a lot of fun leading the easily-lead.