[extropy-chat] The Hidden Luddite was Re: peak oil debate

[Lifespan Pharma Inc.]

Mike Lorrey wrote:

>--- Adrian Tymes <wingcat at pacbell.net> wrote:
>  
>
>>>Everyone has a choice. Not everyone has the resolve and self
>>>discipline
>>>to see things through. If a company offers you and your lawyer a
>>>settlement on condition of non-disclosure, it is your choice to
>>>accept the settlement or not. Nobody is twisting your arm.
>>>      
>>>
>>What if it's the only way to get food?  What if all the food
>>manufacturers require the same?  You don't have to purchase food from
>>them - except that you have to get your food somewhere, and not
>>everyone can grow their own food.
>>    
>>
>
>It would be extremely stupid for ALL food makers to do that, because it
>automatically creates a market for non-secret food if consumers want
>it, and thus opens the door to competition.
>  
>
Anybody who screws with the regulatory system risks proscecution, and 
seizure of commodities, or worse.
I have had experience with this.  I gave another  farmer some lupin seed 
in 1984 and before the gov't was done with me
it cost me 500$ and a day in court.

>Everyone CAN grow their own food, if they so choose. There are, even in
>cities, many public spaces for gardeners to have their own personal
>plots. The question is whether they choose to grow their own food.
>There is not a lack of arable land in the world. Many countries have a
>surplus of it. If you choose to live someplace without such available,
>that is your choice. There are no laws preventing you from moving
>someplace else. Stop making excuses.
>
>  
>
My opinion is that simple food  will not cut it if you want to live 
beyond your 3 score and ten
unless you have above average genes. Designer foods will not be public 
domain and you certainly
will not be able to transport your seed from one jurasdiction to another 
without 3rd party permissions.

>Nor is there any monolithic soylent green corporation, nor is there any
>likelihood there will be. Commodity production industries tend to not
>conglomerate very well. There are limits. Monsanto, even, is limited to
>producing seed. If they went into business of buying up all farmland,
>they'd have to not just buy up all farmland currently in use, but all
>arable, unused land, AND not use the arable unused land WHILE PAYING
>PROPERTY TAXES ON IT, in order to keep that unused land out of use by
>  
>
John Deere and others have systems onboard equipment that with a few 
minor  alterations would
like onstar keep a third party ever aware of where you were and exactly 
what use you are putting
all your equipment to.  Of course this is for nearly new stuff, but in 
time the old stuff will be gone
and those new systems will be all anyone has to work with.

>others. The amount of land they'd have to buy would be in the tens of
>trillions of dollars in value.
>
>Even if Monsanto bought up all the seed companies in the world, new
>competitors would spring up every day, because seeds cannot be monopolized.
>  
>

Not so, they are.  Ever hear of plant breeder's rights.To grow hemp I 
need a police criminal records check,
a multipage app form, GPSmaps, all signed and done to exacting specs.  I 
must buy certified seed from
a licenced, approved, inspected grower, I must pay for inspection and 
lab testing of my crop and by law
I must grow no less than 10 acres of crop. Just plug that one into your 
backyard urban survival garden
for size.

Let me tell you, This year for one of my fields I had the crop seeded 
and cut down in swaths waiting for the combine
before I got the actual permit to seed the crop into my hands, it's just 
that fussy.

Seeds are becoming very closely held properties.  Very soon you will 
need a licence and more to grow
or even possess  a lot of them.

Agriculture is changing, and with recent radical move in energy costs 
will likely change  dramatically over the next 48 months.
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