p>Myron (Mike) Stagman, PhD
Concerned Citizens Information Network
www.ccin.info  (environmental website)
www.MyronStagman.com
email: artemesium@gmail.com

Creating a Grassroots Democracy while Outlawing Genetic Engineering

[Note:  The grassroots public education/activation techniques described below concerning the outlawing of Genetic Engineering and Patents on Life-Forms, can be effectively applied to any Good Reformist Cause --- dealing with global warming & the development of clean & cheap renewable energy sources, elimination of voting fraud, supporting civil liberties and democratic processes, getting an honest political candidate elected, protection of animal rights, abolition of over 90% of patents and placement of commodies/processes in the Public Domain where they belong, stopping a war and preventing the next one, etc., etc.]

SUMMARY:

Only the creation of an informed, (sparetime) activist Citizenry can overcome the Corporation-Government-corporate Mass Media axis which is destroying Food Safety along with democratic freedoms.

Genetic Engingeering and the Patents on Life-Forms upon which GM depends, must be OUTLAWED.

Creating an informed, activist citizenry can only be done via an Alternative Information System featuring Grassroots Public Information Campaigns --- door-to-door and in colleges/universities.

I.  The Corruption of the Political System by Giant Corporations

Giant Corporations dominate the world as well as our individual Western countries.  They have accomplished this primarily via pervasive bribery and corruption of the political system.

This corruption of the political system (extending to parties, candidates, officials, government personnel --  in executive, legislative and judicial branches  --- and at national, regional and local levels) facilitates considerably the Corporate dominance over the mass media, resulting commonly in blanket propaganda, suppression of truth, and distortion of facts --- Thought Control.

[In the United States, a customary, systemic and rather open form of corporate bribery is called "political campaign contributions".

[There are of course many variations on the theme,  including (naturally) direct bribes and the "deferred bribe" (i.e. Do as we want while you're in office, and collect your boodle when you leave -- e.g. a cushy job in our company,  just using your influence here and there, at an eye-popping salary.)

[Even better, control over the political system permits placement of corporate personnel directly into the government -- the so-called "revolving door" whereby men and women enter the government from Giant Corporations, and then go back to one or the other of them for lush rewards.

[Regarding political corruption in the United Kingdom, aside from the crude, glaring corruption a la USA characterising the Blair-New Labour Government,  see  the House of Commons Health Select Committee's report  on "The Influence of the Pharmaceutical Industry", published April 2005.

 

[Look at volume 2, the testimony, not volume 1 which is a watered-down summary of the voluminous, candid testimony.

[For lessons in a really thorough job of corrupting an entire system, not just political but eveything tangential to political, check out how the UK Drug Industry does it.

[The UK Drug Industry includes Pfizer, an American giant, a real professional at spending millions on American politicians.  I wonder if British giants, AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline, approach the American standard in this regard.

 

[These drug corporations, by the way, are also Biotechnology companies.  Do you have any doubts WHY genetic engineering and GMOs poison the world, despite nobody wanting the stuff?)

[According to the testimony, an avalanche of money and other lucrative payments and favours  descend -- without respite -- on  Government personnel, doctors, scientists, universities and university professors,  medical journals and newspapers, patient advocacy groups, even nurses and pharmacists.

[Result:  the Drug Giants own outright the Government (so-called) "regulatory" agencies, and just about everything else in sight, especially doctors.

[Further result: the marketing of poorly or fraudulently tested drugs which kill and maim on a world war scale --- and bring in excruciatingly delicious profits.

{Note closely:  "The third leading cause of death and illness in the [western] world is medical intervention [essentially, prescribed drugs]." --- Paul Flynn, MP, "The Influence of the Pharmaceutical Industry", vol. 2, p. 153.

{Actually, Mr. Flynn appears to be understating the case.  In the United States and Western Europe, prescribed drugs alone -- not to mention other casualties of medical intervention -- are probably THE leading cause of death and disease, easily equalling the combined death and injury toll from Cancer and Heart Disease.

[Just one drug, Vioxx (an arthritis pain-reliever),  has permanently relieved the pain of up to 50,000 people in the USA alone, and caused in that country 140,000 heart attacks.]

Therefore, as a result of political corruption, Corporate policies obviously and seriously damaging to the public interest,  the environment, and plain ordinary decency  have held sway.

For example, we have seen the re-emergence of Fascism, and  are afflicted with nightmare technologies which destroy personal privacy and liberties, and are in the process of destroying Us and Nature (e.g. genetic engineering).

[The bracketed information above regarding the Drug Trade tells its own story of Who wins, Who loses in a system of Money Politics  ---  as opposed to an honest, grassroots democracy.]

II.  Breaking the Corrupt System

This Corruption of the political system, although habitual, need not exist.

It is permitted by a General Public which remains largely ignorant, misinformed, and politically passive with regard to important issues.

What can break this entrenched,  tremendously powerful Corporation-Government-corporate Mass Media axis?

Only one thing --- an informed, activist Citizenry,  which assumes control of the political system that is rightfully and legally theirs.

[Greek, "Democracy", rule by The Many, which no country has today; "Oligarchy", rule by The Few, the universal system, often claiming falsely to be 'democratic',  even trumpeting its desire to force "democracy" on less hypocritical oligarchies]

An informed Citizenry, activist in sparetime, must be created via an Alternative Information System featuring  grassroots public information campaigns.

Educate and politically activate, on important issues, that "Silent Majority", or  face increasingly horrific consequences.

And make major efforts in colleges /  universities.  University students are indispensable to a grassroots democracy movement.

 

We should have an international movement of educating and political activating, on important issues, all of our college / university students.   

It is imperative to begin now the process of creating a Grassroots Democracy.  The Alternative Information System described below employs grassroots democratic techniques which will, as it develops, more and more create a Grassroots Democracy and put an end to the Corporation- Government- corporate Mass Media axis which is destroying our very planet together with our democratic Freedoms.

[AND exploiting and subjugating mercilessly third world countries, while spelling the ruin of small family farmers everywhere. --- see below, Genetic Engineering and Patents on Life-Forms]

Note Again:  The extremely important issue of Genetic Engineering, and the good reformist cause of outlawing it, is a focus of our essay, serving as a critical example of What must be done and How to do it --- one can do this for any good reformist cause.

III.   Model:  Grassroots Public Information Campaigns to Outlaw Genetic Engineering

[Note:  Genetic Engineering (GE), Genetic Modification (GM), and Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are basically synonymous.]

For an essential rundown on the Genetic Engineering process and the numerous disease epidemics clearly or reasonably linked to GMOs, and a host of other ugly GMO incidents in the West and in the Third World, see the "Genetic Engineering Fact-Sheet" on the website of the Concerned Citizens Information Network, www.ccin.info. 

Note that these epidemics involve genetically-engineered medicine as well as food, a field almost entirely ignored by environmentalists.

For purposes of this essay, let it suffice to say that Genetic Engineering is an unnatural, nightmare technology that evades Evolution's safeguards and has already caused (by any reasonable standard of evidence) many hundreds of deaths (evidently thousands),  thousands of cripplings, hundreds of thousands of hospitalisations (probably millions), and  many millions (probably tens of millions) of so-called allergic reactions (i.e. toxic reactions).

Moreover, the Genetic Engineering process is ideal for producing biological and other terrifying weapons -- sufficient cause to outlaw it.

Genetic Engineering depends absolutely on the obscene, sacrilegious Patents on Life-Forms.  These Patents, relatively new to legality, give the Biotechnology corporations both patent monopolies and immunisation from inevitable lawsuits due to contamination of organic and conventional crops.

Instead, victimised farmers are successfully sued by the corporation for -- hold your nose -- "patent infringement".

It may be the greatest racket in history:

GMO Contamination + Patents on Life-Forms = corporate ownership rights in GMO-contaminated crops (and the evolving ruin of small family farmers everywhere on the planet).

Enough.  See the "Genetic Engineering Fact-Sheet", www.ccin.info.  

Now we speak of outlawing Frankenstein food & crops, genetically engineered medicine, the entire GMO process.  How do we proceed?

1.  Always keep in mind that we are seeking to educate and politically activate the General Public, with a special emphasis on college/university students,  to outlaw Genetic Engineering (and Patents on Life-Forms).

We are participating in an Alternative Information System (of which the Internet is a small part) and are thereby helping to create a Grassroots Democracy.

2.  The Converted ---  We are forever obsessed with speaking to the Converted, to those who already support us.  

We must, on the contrary,  directly address  the General Public, that great mass of citizens which tends to be ignorant, misinformed, politically passive and rather conservative as a  result.

Our supporters ought to be -- right now -- educating and politically activating the General Public, especially college/university students.

Our supporters' job figures to be surprisingly easy. Why?  Because 90% of our populations are already uneasy about or plain hostile to Frankenstein food & crops.  What people lack are facts and specific instructions on What To Do in sparetime to eliminate the monster.

3.  Essential information --- we only need to convey some essential information.

 Knowledge of how many GMO disease epidemics are required before a mother recoils at putting GM maize or soya, etc., on her child's plate?  And will do something to get GM out of circulation.

4.  Pretty much everything the average person needs to know can fit on two sides of an A-4 paper.  I suggest placing subject matter info on Side -A, and What To Do info on Side-B.

5.  Subject matter and What To Do information --- recommend reading the "Genetic Engineering Fact-Sheet" on www.ccin.info  for material.

[The next section will provide suggestions regarding what subject matter might go on Side-A of an A-4.   Suggestions for Side-B a bit later.

Shorter leaflets require of course less information.  Speeches can develop points or expand material.)

6.  GE (GM) and Patents on Life-Forms subject info --- Suggest considering especially the following sections from www.ccin.info's Genetic Engineering Fact-Sheet:

1.  GM's evasion of Evolution's safeguards

3.  GM Tryptophan epidemic

4.  GM Insulin epidemic

5 (b).  GM Hepatitis B vaccine epidemic

8.  GM Aspartame (artificial sweetener) epidemic

10.  Food-induced Anaphylactic (life-threatening) Shock epidemic

13.  "Cows Ate GM Maize and Died"

14.  "Mass Deaths of Sheep Grazing on GM Cotton Fields"

20.  Biopharm dangers

22.  Mystery Diseases

25.  Mass Deaths of Monarch Butterflies feeding on GM maize pollen

26.  Mass Deaths of Bees feeding on GM cotton pollen

31.  Farmer Suicides in India due to failures of GM cotton crops

32.  Contracts (en-serfing) signed by farmers with Biotechnlogy corporations

35.  GM Contamination

36.  GM Contamination + Patents on Life-Forms = Corporate proprietary rights and spells the ruin of small family farmers everywhere  [see Section 2 for discussion of Patents on Life-Forms]

37.  The expansion of varieties of GM crops/food  (so one can see where we're going if we don't do something about it)

39.  Genetically engineered animals

40.  Religion (depending on the ethnicity of your intended audience)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

7.  Avoiding NGOs and Political Parties

Work individually or in small groups.  (If a lot of people join you, fine.)

NEVER ever join a large, established organisation.  And NEVER ever give money to them. NONE of them are what you think they are.

Their self-serving HIERARCHIES will always disappoint and disillusion well-motivated followers. Steer clear of them !!

Repeat:  AVOID NGOs, political parties, and all established organisations, especially large ones.  Avoid them like the plague. They are not what they seem.

Their hierarchies and decision-making are corporation-influenced if not outright purchased.

 [see George Monbiot's very important article in The Guardian,  4 September 2001, "Sleeping with the Enemy:  Consumer and Environmental Groups are Getting into Bed with Big Corporations]

[Note: In developing countries there are some exceptions, but very very very few in the West. If by a miracle one of them ever conducts a genuine and sensible public education campaign, then you can help out.  But never join or give money to them. Never !!]

The environmental field especially is riddled with wealthy, prestigious, deceptive organisations adept at diluting and derailing environmental causes,  GM in particular.

In my years of experience, guess which huge organisation is clearly to me a dangerous foe of environmentalism.  Keep your distance from all large, established organisations, and don't get anywhere near that one.

When they talk about being 'practical' and seeking 'Coexistence' with GM,  let a red flag go up.

Nothing short of OUTLAWING GENETIC ENGINEERING and PATENTS ON LIFE-FORMS will save us and our planet.

Do your educational work as individuals or in small groups of people you know.

8.   What To Do   (Side-B of an A-4)

Keep in mind that

Giant Corporations and their politicos depend absolutely on Public ignorance and passivity regarding major issues.  This is the basis of Oligarchic dominance over The People.

Keep in mind we are creating an ALTERNATIVE INFORMATION SYSTEM which reaches,  and more & more includes the GENERAL PUBLIC,  thereby creating an honest, GRASSROOTS DEMOCRACY.

So, alone or in small groups (people you know):

(1)  Educate and Activate others -- family members, friends and acquaintances (talking to them,  letter-writing and emailing).

Always ask them to pass on the information to others -- creating a Chain Process and ripple effect.

Emphasise/request sparetime, leisure participation (perhaps a few hours a week), but regularly, as part of an ethical life-style.

Emphasising sparetime involvement is quite important, since people do not want to feel burdened.  If they do, they won't do anything.

Ambitious groups can conduct a Public Information Campaign in their community or school.    

     [Note: Double-sided A4s make good information sheets to sufficiently present the basic argument.

Suggestion: essential subject information on one side, and What To Do on the other.  Have an interesting, significant picture or two on each side (e.g. Frankenstein's monster).

Hand them out, especially getting them to people's doors.  If someone is home, say two or three sentences to them about the leaflet and its importance to them,  their children and grandchildren.

Arrange for a public meeting/discussion to be held in that community, announcing it on the information sheet.

Perhaps prepare a DVD for presentation at that meeting or at a lecture.

     (1-a)  College/university students --- They are easier to get to than the General Public, since they are located in one place.  Make special efforts to inform and politically activate them.

Suggestion:  The student unions will likely do you little good.

Let two people. preferably a man and a woman, spend some time on campus talking to students.  Find out who is interested in handing out leaflets, who might be interested in setting up or sponsoring for you a talk/dvd presentation/meeting.

Supply them with leaflets and/or ask them to duplicate and pass around to other students -- AND to take some home during vacation to pass around their community.

   (1-b)  Senior Citizens -- They are many and they can prove excellent
activists.  Approach them.  Mention the kind of Frankenstein world their grandchildren are entering.

 (2)  Telephone the media -- newspapers and radio (e.g. to a newspaper reporter who might prove sympathetic, or to an editor, leaving a message) and write letters-to-the-editors.  If enough people do it, some letters will be printed (it's a very popular section of the paper, reaching a lot of people), and editors will in time modify their editorials and begin to alter their instructions to journalists.

Something must be done about TELEVISION ---  Its evil influence is so important to Giant Corporations and their dominated Governments.

To start, be aware of its propaganda function and persistent suppression of truth.  

Publicise the Thought Control dishonesty of television.

(3)  Lobby your local, regional and national governments.   By far the best thing is for 2, 3, or 4 of you to make an appointment with your legislative representative(s) and, armed with some information (never assume they know anything), register your opinions with him/her.

Unless your rep is really corrupt (most are not; they just seem that way because The System compromises them), it does not take many such meetings from different people to impel the legislator to take heed.  

(4)  Direct Action.    

This is meant to publicise, to discomfort, and to establish.

PUBLICISE, with the appropriate slant, the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Figure out ways of stopping the deadly genetic engineering monster and its incestuous Patents on Life-Forms.

Conclusion

Human beings and Nature, as we have known them, cannot survive in a GMO Frankenstein world.

Genetic Engineering and Patents on Life-Forms must be OUTLAWED.

P.S.  World War III has actually begun, pitting Giant Corporations Against People and Morality.  These Corporations are determined to conquer the world, establishing what they call the "New World Order" (likely derived from Adolf Hitler's term, the "New Order".)

And they are succeeding.  Human life and the Natural World will not be the same if they win.

Help create an Ethic of educating and politically activating the Citizenry to rescue Nature and Ourselves.