How to Control the World

The most effective way to control the world is to control the supply of an essential item such as water or oxygen. Fortunately, completely controlling the supply of essentials is usually very difficult. Unfortunately, our patenting system in the United States has recently been transforming in such a way that encourages monopolies of control over many very common items, including food.

One of the biggest problems I see with our patent system is that it allows for the complete control over strains of genetically modified food and animals. At first glance it may not seem like a monopoly on specific strains of food would matter much. Farmers would just be able to not buy the strain or to use the seeds from their own already modified plants if they so wished, right? Wrong.

The U.S. patenting system allows for genetically modified seed to be sold in mass with restrictive stipulations placed upon them. For example, genetically modified seeds are often sold with the restriction that the seeds cannot be reused in the next years crop, so the farmer must purchase more costly seeds directly from source next year. This allows for a monopoly on this specific strain of seeds such that anyone who has these genetically modified plants are forced to buy their seeds from the supplier with the patent.

This doesn't seem so bad, right? A smart farmer would just not buy the genetically modified seeds in the first place if these crazy stipulations were placed on the use of these seeds. Unfortunately, this approach still does not circumvent this flawed system. Many plants spread their pollen far and wide, ensuring that genetically modified plants will contaminate any crops near them. Once a genetically modified hybrid plant has been produced, the law leaves the ownership of this plant in a potentially very dangerous place.

A company called Monsanto has been practicing this form of controlling the world over the years and they are becoming increasingly better at it. Monsanto owns thousands of patents on herbicides, insecticides, genetically modified seeds, and they have even filed a patent for genes present in pigs. Monsanto distributes the most popular herbicide and they are by far the leading producer and patent owner of genetically modified seed.

There are many conspiracy videos explaining how Monsanto is attempting to gain control of all pigs worldwide and is generally harming the world as a whole. Regardless of Monsanto's intentions, they obviously do not care at all about the health of the world (see Agent Orange) and they are in a position that allows them nearly complete control over all food. It is a bit curious how many people have supposedly been fired or humiliated for researching or reporting bad information about Monsanto.

Although people are fighting back and sometimes winning battles, Monsanto is winning the war. Congratulations to the Monsanto Corporation for grossly taking advantage of human ignorance and obtaining the power to control the world in the most effective way I have ever seen.

Industrial Hemp: A Dead Cash Crop

The cannabis plant is often associated with the drug marijuana, which is harvested from strains of cannabis that have high levels of THC. Industrial hemp is a strain of the cannabis plant that has low levels of THC, rendering it useless as a drug. Cannabis plants are illegal to grow in the United States, regardless of their THC content, because some strains of cannabis can be harvested to produce the drug marijuana. Since hemp is a strain of cannabis, industrial hemp is illegal to grow in the United States.

Hemp is a very useful resource and has numerous uses. Before hemp was outlawed in the United States it was seen as valuable cash crop. The U.S. Department of Agriculture actually released a film called "Hemp for Victory" in 1942 in order to promote the production of the hemp plant to support the war effort. Industrial hemp plants produce very strong fibers and, along with cotton and flax, are one of the most useful natural fibers known to man.

There is a theory that cannabis plants were originally outlawed in the US in order to stop hemp from taking business away from many other industries. This theory is fairly widely accepted by advocates of industrial hemp. Of course, some consider this theory to be inaccurate. Regardless of whether or not there was a well-planned conspiracy to outlaw the production of industrial hemp, the fact still stands that industrial hemp is outlawed in the United States.

There are no good arguments for keeping industrial hemp illegal. One common argument against industrial hemp is that it would be too hard to tell industrial hemp apart crops from medical cannabis crops. This is not true. It is fairly easy to tell industrial hemp crops and medical cannabis crops apart based on appearance, the way in which they are grown, and the time of year they are ready for harvesting. David P. West's Hemp and Marijuana: Myth's & Realities sheds some light on the truths about industrial hemp.

Legalizing industrial hemp is not a lost cause. Organizations such as Vote Hemp are trying to legalize industrial hemp in the United States. The U.S. Department of Agriculture published a study on hemp in 2000. Ron Paul introduced the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2005 and the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2007 to Congress. A wealth of information is available on industrial hemp. Hopefully U.S. politicians will wake up and see the light soon.