For some, a lack of evidence only proves the conspiracy
“ … a story has as many versions as it has readers. Everyone takes what he wants or can from it and thus changes it to his measure. Some pick out parts and reject the rest, some strain the story through their mesh of prejudice, some paint it with their own delight.”
John Steinbeck wrote that in “The Winter of Our Discontent” and though he was writing fiction, the passage applies to modern media. It applies especially well to the final report of the Kauai Joint Fact-Finding Group on pesticide use on the island.
The JFFG was created to investigate allegations of dangerous and irresponsible activities of seed farms on the island’s west side. To hear some tell it, companies like Syngenta, Pioneer and Dupont willfully poison the land and the people with all manner of pesticides, leading to shocking stories of illness and suffering. Call it the Seeds of Wrath.
After a year of gathering evidence — which, in part, amounted to people shaking their fists at community gatherings and shouting vague, scary stories about sea urchins and bats and asthma — the final report was released this week.
Guess what? Nobody could verify all those scary stories.
Guess what else? The people who told those scary stories are taking that as proof that there’s a conspiracy to keep the stories quiet. They want the state and county to spend more money on research so that “the truth can come out.”
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The report claims to stick to facts but includes all sorts of subjective claims and even contains “personal statements” from the group’s members, all of whom are opponents of the seed companies. (Participants on the other side, including a retired county extension agent, quit when it became clear where the group was being steered.) Part of the report’s cover letter even congratulates Kauai politicians for hiring Peter Adler, the consultant who ran the study, which cost taxpayers $100,000.
“Regardless of the bumps in the process, the report contains an excellent analysis of the available local data in response to the specific questions raised,” the cover letter reads. It then goes on to pitch for future work. “Tough issues deserve this kind of sustained inquiry and government should consider similar approaches when confronted with other science-intensive, politically contentious issues. We hope that this effort serves their needs.”
Scott Enright, chairman of the Hawaii Board of Agriculture, has demonstrated the patience of Job through this circus. The Department of Agriculture, which regulates the use of pesticides, is, of course, part of the conspiracy theorists’ conspiracy. Enright’s office issued a response to the report that managed to refrain from sounding too much like, “Told you so!”
“There have been inaccurate claims made by the public, most notably through social media, about pesticide exposure on Kauai. HDOA notes that the JFFG … has found no conclusive evidence that the seed companies are misusing pesticides or ‘drenching’ west side communities with pesticides, a common rumor circulating on social media.”
The report made recommendations for water, air and soil monitoring to which the state and county seem amenable. Sounds reasonable. But in a world in which manufactured and naturally occurring elements mingle, where there is disagreement about how many parts per billion is too many, who will decide what level of monitoring is reasonable? Hopefully not the same “fact-finders” who make outrageous, untruthful claims and give more weight to peer-affirmed feelings than to peer-reviewed science.
This fight is about the thrill of fighting.
It started out as “GMO food will kill you!” and then morphed into screaming about pesticides and now seems to be circling back to arguments that seed companies are greedy and shouldn’t own the patents on their products. Whatever. There’s something gleeful and addicting about having an enemy, like a rival frat house or the opposing football team.
There’s a guy who dresses in black, wears a death mask and dances on the side of the road on Kauai protesting GMOs in general and Monsanto specifically. Monsanto isn’t even on Kauai, but that doesn’t stop the guy from doing his dance, painting it with his own delight.
Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@taradvertiser.com.
18 responses to “For some, a lack of evidence only proves the conspiracy”
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Angrily toting their torches and pitchforks in response to many of the imaginary threats of GMOs, pesticides, or the dire consequences of climate change is a lot easier than actually studying science. As Master Pangloss in Voltaire’s Candide repeatedly asserted, this is the best of all possible worlds. In other words, change is bad.
Science is too hard to understand.
Actually, it’s kind of necessary to reference the first part of the quotation to really get the sense of the second in the context of Leibnizian philosophy. “tout est pour le mieux dans le meilleur des mondes possibles” (Everything is for the best in the best of possible worlds.) The idea that because this world is the best one possible, everything that happens is as it should be. So, no matter how dire things appear, take comfort that this is the way it’s supposed to work.
(Not to detract in the least from Palani. It’s gratifying to see literate references to things like Enlightenment thought in the good ol’ Star-Fishwrapper online comments section.)
New appreciation of Cellodad.
Palani, fully agree with your post. And, on the other end, “The Story of Chicken Little, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, et. al.”
Only my palani can be Panglossian! But yes, I agree with lee and Palani. No proof at all that GMO’s are any danger. Papayas have been grown with GMO tech for many years now and no deaths or illness. Trouble is, GMO’s will feed the world. Organic, largely fraudulent, will not.
Very true, but the elitists care little about feeding the world, their vision is narrowed by their unique privilege. Now, how about the price of arugula?
Thank you Lee.
Best column ever. I can’t believe how reassuring it is to know someone like Cataluna exists. The sad part is that guy on Kauai dancing with the mask will most likely not be reading Lee’s column.
And he probably just moved to Kauai from California
True dat. Most of these people are transplants who say that now that they’re here, the island can be saved from us ignorant locals who really don’t know what’s good for us. And, because they read all this stuff on the internet, it must be true! Plenty problems on this rock – not limited to traffic, losing our land, being crowded off our beaches – all caused by mainland haole moving here by the thousands. We locals are getting run off our own island!
A breath of fresh air. Thanks Lee.
The fascinating thing about conspiracies is they are, by definition, impossible to disprove. You can prove they are true, but you cannot prove they are false. Mahalo, Lee.
The guy dancing on the side of the road may know something like the reason you don’t find any worms in fresh corn. Monsanto had a hand in it with poison grafted in the seeds. Russia and Hungary are rejecting these GMO crops. California is now going to allow “Glyphosate”, a known carcinogen into its crops. The issue may have to be addressed to the “Grocery Manufacturers of America. Is US favoring Monsanto ?? Whats the reason for Monsanto’s foods not permitted in the WH and Monsanto’s cafeteria ?? Are the people finding out the wrong stuff about these GMO crops ??
Gasoline is a known carcinogen yet you stand there and breath in the fumes with each fill of your gas tank. So your own statement makes you look kinda dumb. But don’t think about. Don’t use logic. It might change your mind. NOT! Like Lee said, this argument is beyond facts and science. It’s all about the fight. Thank goodness we have the 99%’ers who wear masks and defecate in our parks to entertain us.
DABLACK – you lead a mule to water, but you can’t make um drink – you qualify. If you want to find out just how lolo these new age salem witch-hunters are, try go to http://kauaieclectic.blogspot.com/
Well said, Lee.
Another excellent assessment, Lee. I couldn’t find the words so thanks for
“THE FIGHT IS ABOUT THE THRILL OF FIGHTING . . .There’s something gleeful and addicting about having an enemy, like a rival frat house or the opposing football team.”