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| Farmer plowing in Fahrenwalde, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
"...it's not that I disagree with you in theory re GMOs; it's that I'm sharply concerned that agro-giants like Monsanto are as prone to self-deception regarding the "rightness" of their actions or beliefs (that's human nature) as are Big Pharma, BIO, Big Oil/Gas/Coal, Big Medicine, nuclear power, and major food manufacturers. So much done and planned by these entities is about control, securing their long-range power, and profits. Also, the nature of Capitalism and competition demands that new technologies and breakthroughs are rushed into production before potentially catastrophic 'bugs' are worked out. Considering the stakes involved with GMOs and their global use, I can't see them at this point as a boon for Man, and definitely not wielded as a proprietary weapon by Monsanto for gaining control of the world's future food production."
He is right of course. It is certainly in the nature of Capitalism to rush innovations into production before proper testing is fully carried out, with potentially catastrophic results. And if anyone interpreted my last post as unconditional support for the Big Corporations and what they they are doing to us, that was NOT my intention and I want to clarify right here (though anyone who's read Forever Young already knows what kind of bleak, dismal future I believe we are headed for because of these Big Corporations). So this is what I wrote in reply:
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| Monsanto-Prozess (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
And Capitalism, focused as it is on the pursuit of profit rather than the happiness of Man, is fundamentally egotistical, in some cases maybe evil. So yes, I do see a very dark future... Still, I have hopes that the future I depict in Forever Young won't happen and that a book such as this one, while it aims to entertain, will also make people think twice about who they vote for and what policies they support.
No question about it, my book is issue-driven though I try hard not to lecture but to "show" what happens!"
Yes, this is why I write novels rather than non-fiction, though I'm seriously contemplating moving to more non-fiction, to be published under the name Claude Forthomme, as I do with all my articles on Impakter.com; I might yet tackle the major issues facing our society with my "weapons" as a social scientist rather than as an entertainer. Because, fundamentally, novels are meant for entertainment. They can be issue-driven (as all my books are) but issues in my opinion must always take second place to the plot, the characters, in short, the story being told to entertain the reader. Indeed, that is why climate fiction "works", because it works on the emotions. Strings of data put together by scientists really never quite manage to do that, they appeal to our rational mind, not our emotions.
So, for the moment, I'm firmly wedded to climate fiction and planning on a follow-up to Forever Young, called Forever Young, 400 Years Later as our friends wake up from their long hibernation, some on a distant, pristine planet ready to settle it and the others in Antarctica, poised to reconquer what remains of the (devastated) Earth.
Still, I may yet branch out in non-fiction...Will let you know!
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