Bill Gates: The Great Reset and The Great Refusal

 

Colin Todhunter specializes in development, food and agriculture and is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization in Montreal. He takes a deep dive into the world of agriculture that Bill Gates envisions for us “eaters.” It is a monstrous vision.  Here’s a small extract via Off-Guardian (h/t AmericaFirstReport):

. . . The biggest owner of private farmland in the US – Bill Gates – has a vision for farming: a chemical-dependent, corporate-dependent, one-world agriculture (Ag One initiative) to facilitate the global supply chains of conglomerates. This initiative is side-lining indigenous knowledge and practices in favour of corporate knowledge and a further colonisation of global agriculture.

Gates’s corporatisation of smallholder agriculture is packaged in philanthropic terms – ‘helping’ farmers in places like Africa and India. It has not worked out well so far if we turn to the Gates-backed Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), established in 2006.

The first major evaluation of AGRA’s efforts to expand high-input agriculture in Africa found that – after 15 years – it had failed. . . .

With lab-based synthetic meat being promoted and attracting huge interest from investors, Gates and the agritech sector also envisage a largely ‘climate-friendly’ animal-free agriculture, which they claim will result in freeing up vast tracts of farmland (we can only speculate for what).

It remains to be seen just how energy-efficient, environment-friendly and health-friendly synthetic meat labs are once scaled up to industrial levels. . . .

And don't forget the bugs!  In the conclusion:

The neoliberal programme that took root in the 1980s has now reached a debt-bloated, inflationary impasse. In response, capitalism has embarked on a ‘great reset’ with transformative technology very much to the fore in the guise of a ‘4th Industrial Revolution’, promising a brave new tomorrow for all.

However, there are deep-seated concerns about how this technology could be used to monitor and control entire populations, especially as we are witnessing a brutal economic restructuring and increasing clampdowns on personal liberties. If neoliberalism promoted individualism, the ‘new normal’ demands strict compliance – individual freedom is said to pose a threat to ‘national security’, ‘public health’ or ‘safety’.

. . .

The controlling nature of technology pervades all aspects of life today. But whether it involves farmers protests in Europe and India, the advancement of a political agroecology, truckers taking to the streets in Canada or ordinary people protesting against a rapidly advancing authoritarianism in Western societies, many people across the world know something is seriously amiss.

. . . we are seeing a ‘great refusal’ – people saying ‘no’ to multiple forms of repression and domination – tentacles of an economic system in crisis.

Read the full report at Off-Guardian here (it’s long). 

# # #

Trump, Climate Treaty, and America's Sovereignty

photo credit: conservative tribune

E. Jeffrey Ludwig at American Thinker had some inspiring observations after listening to President Trump’s Rose Garden speech explaining his decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord. Ludwig singled out this paragraph from the speech (his emphasis):

There are serious legal and constitutional issues as well.  Foreign leaders in Europe, Asia, and across the world, should not have more to say with respect to the U.S. economy than our own citizens and their elected representatives, thus, our withdrawal from the agreement represents a reassertion of America's sovereignty. Our constitution is unique among all nations of the world. And it is my highest obligation and greatest honor to protect it. And I will[.] ... It would once have been unthinkable that an international agreement could prevent the United States from conducting its own domestic economic affairs, but this is the new reality we face if we do not leave the agreement or if we do not negotiate a far better deal."

Before taking  look at a few of Ludwig’s further thoughts on this speech, I would note that the EU folks took the bait, and they don’t even know it. The headline at The Independent:

Trump prides himself as being the ultimate deal maker - but he just broke one of the best deals we had

The Guardian reports that France’s new President, Emmanuel Macron responded (my emphasis): “I tell you firmly tonight: we will not renegotiate a less ambitious accord. There is no way,” said Macron. In other words, Trump slammed the door, and Macron et al nailed it shut. What cards are they left holding?

Ludwig comments on Trump’s decision to invoke America’s sovereignty in his speech:

In saying these words, President Trump announced to the world that we are departing from the trajectory of the U.S. toward globalization. . .

Sovereignty has not been discussed in the public square for a long time.  . . .

Trump is thus speaking against not merely membership in the Paris Agreement.  By speaking of our sovereignty, he is throwing down the gauntlet to our entire strategy of world relations during the post-WWII period.  His reference to sovereignty suggests to this writer that he is forthrightly bucking a 72-year trend toward multilateralism, a 72-year trend of diluting American sovereignty.  He is saying no to a furtherance of the many financial and legal compromises made when entering into to such extensive networks.  With great clarity, he closed his announcement by saying, "In other words, the Paris framework is just a starting point.  As bad as it is.  Not an end point."

Seeing that our continued membership would be the beginning of a further phase towards global governance, the president decided boldly to say "no."  We can conclude that his "no" is likewise to be seen as a first step – a game-changing, powerful, proactive step – toward regaining our precious sovereignty.

Read the rest here.

# # #