I wouldn't necessarily tie-in an anti-GMO stance with anti-vaxxers.
Herd immunity is pretty damn important. Some folk will be allergic to the vaccines, and some vaccines may be unsafe, for a given value thereof...but as a general principle, vaccination is pretty important.
Farming is a whole 'nother issue. :) And here I find myself in agreement with you.
Sex is a whole 'nother issue again. :) Here's to good, safe, clean (for a given value thereof too) poly fun. May your sister-in-law remain long in the memories of her friends and family.
I wouldn't necessarily tie-in an anti-GMO stance with anti-vaxxers.
Vaccinations, as you point out, are quite a bit more important to public health than GMOs, I would agree. Here, though, I am equating them not in terms of what happens when someone follows their fallacious beliefs, but what mindset causes either belief to be swallowed in the first place.
Both feel something is wrong. But in neither case, can they put their finger on what that might be. This leaves them open to misinformation that is easily shot down. Even though the misinformation is wrong, though, the initial feeling of something important being missed prevents them from abandoning the misinformation and finding the real problem.
Heck, the same thing can be said about the 9/11 conspiracy crowd, and I agree with their ultimate conclusions, but not at all with their initial assumptions!
I don't think the problem is GMO itself, but the manner in which we're generally applying the technology. As in most domains, we keep trying to reduce the number of variables to make the system manageable, but what we end up with is the illusion of manageability: the simple system can't be isolated from the more complex environment, and so the simplifying assumptions keep breaking down.
Add to that the notion that this impetus to simplify the system, to increase manageability, to forward the illusion of simplification for predictable and (mostly) short-term profit and/or a reduction in costs, and I would wholeheartedly agree.
A farmer that doesn't have to pay for the fuel necessary to plow under a ground cover of "green manure" will be mighty enticed to try a "no-till" GMO option, especially when fuel prices are as high as they are.
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Herd immunity is pretty damn important. Some folk will be allergic to the vaccines, and some vaccines may be unsafe, for a given value thereof...but as a general principle, vaccination is pretty important.
Farming is a whole 'nother issue. :) And here I find myself in agreement with you.
Sex is a whole 'nother issue again. :) Here's to good, safe, clean (for a given value thereof too) poly fun. May your sister-in-law remain long in the memories of her friends and family.
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Vaccinations, as you point out, are quite a bit more important to public health than GMOs, I would agree. Here, though, I am equating them not in terms of what happens when someone follows their fallacious beliefs, but what mindset causes either belief to be swallowed in the first place.
Both feel something is wrong. But in neither case, can they put their finger on what that might be. This leaves them open to misinformation that is easily shot down. Even though the misinformation is wrong, though, the initial feeling of something important being missed prevents them from abandoning the misinformation and finding the real problem.
Heck, the same thing can be said about the 9/11 conspiracy crowd, and I agree with their ultimate conclusions, but not at all with their initial assumptions!
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Add to that the notion that this impetus to simplify the system, to increase manageability, to forward the illusion of simplification for predictable and (mostly) short-term profit and/or a reduction in costs, and I would wholeheartedly agree.
A farmer that doesn't have to pay for the fuel necessary to plow under a ground cover of "green manure" will be mighty enticed to try a "no-till" GMO option, especially when fuel prices are as high as they are.
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