[Nettime-bold] Re: <nettime> Planet destroyed; film at 11

[David Mandl <dmandl@panix.com>]

On Mon, 11 Jun 2001, scot mcphee wrote:

> Frankly, that debating style reeks of the ones that Israelis use to
> discredit their critics; "Nazis are anti-Semitic, criticism of the
> Israeli state is anti-semitic, therefore you are anti-semitic".

In my original post (a couple of weeks ago) I cited one sentence of
yours as an example of how multinational corporations ease in possibly
dangerous and insufficiently tested new technologies: (They say things
like) "This new drug is really just like an herb that Native Americans
used to use," or "We've actually been doing GM for thousands of years,
so what's the big deal?"  I didn't claim that you're in their pay,
just mentioned that these kinds of statements are often used by them
for the reasons given.  You responded with an ad hominem screed about
the sixties and the "vanguardist ultra-left."  So tell me about
debating styles.

> Your reactions here, are just the binary opposite to those of the
> seed companies.

That may be.  They unequivocally want these technologies introduced,
and I unequivocally don't.  Can't there be certain things that I'm
unwilling to compromise on at all?  Compromise on these new
technologies is virtually impossible anyway: Either these organisms
are released into the environment or not.  I choose not.  I absolutely
defend your right to eat anything you want, but then what about
everyone else?

This isn't like (pre-GM) bread, say, where I could choose to avoid
Wonder and eat whole grain if I wanted to.  GM is in a different
category, and that's the point: As soon as the stuff is released (the
industry's goal all along, I'd say), it's "game over," and I have to
eat it forever.  So who's the vanguardist?

Again, I defend your right to eat anything you want.  Can the pro-GM
parties say the same thing to me?  I don't know whether you're pro-GM
or anti-GM, or somewhere in the middle; this all started when I simply
picked out a sentence of yours and pointed out how statements like it
are used by the industry.  This really isn't about you.  All I want is
a stop to this new technology, which is being forced through by a
handful of companies.  Unfortunately, whatever debate has been going
on hasn't stopped them from just unilaterally pushing ahead with their
plan.

Cheers,

   --Dave.

--
Dave Mandl
dmandl@panix.com
davem@wfmu.org
http://www.wfmu.org/~davem


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