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market-farming - Re: Monsanto vs Schmeiser

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  • From: "Jill Taylor Bussiere" <jdt AT itol.com>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Monsanto vs Schmeiser
  • Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 08:11:53 -0500


>
> Weather you are GMO - Pro or Con the fact remains that patent and
copyright
> laws must be up held. Without them innovation would be a thing of the
past! Kevin

Kevin,
I strongly disagree with upholding patent laws on seeds. They are
sacreligious in my mind. To me, having a patent on seeds is the same as
having one on the air, or water (Monsanto has tried to buy water to sell
too - and the FTAA, if it is passed, has some implications for corporate
ownership of water as well). To me, the air, water, and seeds belong to us
all.

As for innovation, humans have been innovative without patents, without
ownership even, without capitalism for 10's of thousands of years.
Innovation does not require copyrights or patents. I understand that this
present economic/social system in which we live offers rewards for
innovation in these ways, but it is better to devise a system where
innovation that benefits all is rewarded, rather than innovation that
benefits a corporation or a person.

The seeds we have today are the result of those thousands of years of
communal human innovation. Oftentimes, companies such as Monsanto will go
into "third world" countries, pirate the seed that women have been
responsible for saving for generations, and then patent that seed. To read
more about such things, look up Vandana Shiva and some of her works.

Jill






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