Comments on Mutualist Blog: Free Market Anti-Capitalism: Crunchy Con Talk

Hello all.Found a parody of the Monsanto logo bein...

2007-10-02T18:35:00.000-07:00

Hello all.

Found a parody of the Monsanto logo being used for protest tee shirts:

http://www.cafepress.com/seeds_of_death

I got one (before they take em off)

Not much to expand on, really. Just an observatio...

2006-09-05T09:49:00.000-07:00

Not much to expand on, really. Just an observation (largely derived from Hannah Arendt's On Revolution and Bookchin's The Third Revolution) that in most revolutions, the "real revolution" is the one made by the people for themselves from the ground up, by creating their own alternative institutions. In the case of New England, the real revolution had been (as Howard Zinn observed) carried out by local committees of public safety and the Sons of Liberty, and the like. The official "revolution" that started in April 1775 (with the ensuing cult of Washington and all that) was sparked by an attempted counter-revolution, backed by an armed invasion.

Kevin, I wonder if you might expand upon your Cast...

2006-09-04T17:38:00.000-07:00

Kevin, I wonder if you might expand upon your Castro the Parasite theme.

Jeremy,I think they're a loose assortment that inc...

2006-03-16T23:18:00.000-08:00

Jeremy,

I think they're a loose assortment that includes Catholic Worker/distributist types and folks who still don't eat meat on Fridays, just in case. Just about any kind of "countercultural" association you can think of--homeschooling, organic farming, natural childbirth, etc.--the membership will probably be divided between "back to the land" hippies and religious fundamentalists. So long as they don't argue about religion, they actually get along pretty well.

colorless,

The Cuban situation is really confusing. Since the Cuban revolution had a lot of involvement by anarchists and the libertarian left, and there was a lot of cooperative innovation and petty bourgeois land reform before Castro went whole hog M-L, I suspect a lot of the stuff you describe is just the surviving aspects of the *genuine* revolution that Castro is parasitic upon.

Dain,Freeman beat me to it. Monsanto argues that ...

2006-03-16T23:09:00.000-08:00

Dain,

Freeman beat me to it. Monsanto argues that the presence of their DNA in your crops is evidence of "piracy," even if you're an organic farmer who doesn't want them contaminating your corn.

B-psycho,

Google "Oprah" and "mad cow." Or check out Monsanto's strong-arming of grocers who do nothing more than label milk shelves as non-GM. They're thugs. THUGS.

Fantastic post, Kevin! The taking down of two pes...

2006-03-16T22:40:00.000-08:00

Fantastic post, Kevin! The taking down of two pesky birds with one stone is always nice to see.

Dain - Kevin's remark about Monsanto thugs actually refers to neither scenarios you brought up. To learn what he's really talking about, just do a Google search for "Percy Schmeiser", or just click here.

"....Monsanto thugs hauling farmers into court for...

2006-03-16T20:56:00.000-08:00

"....Monsanto thugs hauling farmers into court for being downwind of their GM pollen."

Kevin, by this do you mean Monsanto taking action against farmers who are using their patented GM seeds illegally? Or is it the other way around, with indigenous farmers bringing Monsanto to court to protest GM infiltration of their crops? Sounds like the former. If so, it would coincide with what I'd been reading on many admittedly rather vulgar libertarian websites that promote GM seeds in the third world: farmers smuggling seeds, protesting governments in the effort to end GM illegality, etc.

I'm not so much against the science per se, but I'm convinced that you are right that the seeds are only beneficial given the current state of subsidized, protected agri-business. In the meantime, before a return to a farming system that would be more sensible and just, I support these farmers seeing what they can do with GM seeds to enhance their crops, if they are so inclined. Patents be damned.

-Dain

"government food libel laws"...whu?

2006-03-16T19:57:00.000-08:00

"government food libel laws"

...whu?

well, they aren't really moderates. they are cultu...

2006-03-16T14:08:00.000-08:00

well, they aren't really moderates. they are cultural conservatives.

Yeah, I was watching that CrunchyCon blog feed bef...

2006-03-16T12:43:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I was watching that CrunchyCon blog feed before I realized that this was just a blog for left center moderates who find Democrats unfashionable. This quote, however, gives me hope that we can start to transcend the labels and get down to the heart of the problem:

"Why do you think our government keeps getting bigger and more intrusive? It ain’t all (or even primarily) the fault of the bleeding heart lefties."

Taking responsibility is the first step.