The Myth Of The American Farmer, The State-Enforced, Violent, Industrial Food Monopoly And Chipotle’s Farmed And Dangerous Film Series
The industrial food monopoly is one of the largest employers in our nation. From Wal-mart, Target, Kroger and other retailing behemoths who sell thousands upon thousands of SKUs of processized, chemicalized, nutrient-void, industrial food goo to the logistics companies, transportation companies, food processors, packaged food makers, raw material producers to the farmers, chemical companies, petroleum companies, seed companies, farming equipment companies to the countless financial firms who provide real estate, futures, hedging, management, insurance, and derivatives services to the colleges and universities who pump out engineers, nurses, doctors, scientists, MBAs, finance majors who feed the beast to the the various technology and process companies that enable the faux “productivity” boom that industrial farming has supposedly created. I’m sure I have missed a few participants in there. That includes the politicians, political actors, lobbyists, judges, lawyers and state regulators who use state violence to prop up this leviathan. And they hide behind the twisted, tortured and bastardized rule of law to defend the Frankenstein of their contrived central planning -
"Sometimes the law defends plunder and participates in it. Thus the beneficiaries are spared the shame and danger that their acts would otherwise involve. But how is this legal plunder to be identified? Quite simply. See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them and gives it to the other persons to whom it doesn't belong. See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime." -- Frederic Bastiat
The inertia of the collective industrial food Borg is massive and those who rely on this monstrosity for their economic survival number in the millions upon millions. That means millions upon millions will continue to victimize themselves and others for their own self-interested, self-destructive rationalisms and logical fallacies. That is, until the proverbial shit hits the fan and forces a crisis of the ego or until people experience a wholesale awakening. Which, by the way, is happening at various speeds across this and every other form of predatory state violence.
That’s the beauty of corporate capitalism. It conscripts people into doing the evil bidding of their masters. Of the conformity of the Borg. Often ignorantly. Because the only way many will support evil bidding is through ignorance. Whether that is willful ignorance or simply propaganda created by their masters. We who live in the corporate state have no choice. Or so we believe. Without a wholesale, mindful awakening and refusal to support such a violent, self-destructive system, everyone’s economic livelihood is too often intertwined with doing evil. Or, conforming through a system of mind-numbing, dumbed-down, emotional violence. Something the military-industrial complex, the sick care complex, the financial sector, the university educational system, the public sector and on and on have perfected to a degree of efficiency and dumbed-down ignorance that would make Stalin and Hitler proud. While I support green initiatives, we even see this type of violence in green initiatives and other worthy efforts. For, what was the industrial food monopoly other than once a worthy effort itself? We are all mad. We all victimize ourselves and others through our own ignorant conformity to the Borg of social and state-driven corporate violence.
So, even though truth is incontrovertible, the industrial food monopoly continues to bumble forward under its own inertia. Inertia created through state violence. Just like the other examples of state violence listed above, there is absolutely no way it can survive without state actors employing the force of the state to enslave humanity to its inhumaneness, unsustainability, destructiveness and the massive emotional and physical unwellness it creates.
The myth of America being the world’s bread basket or as is commonly termed “supermarket to the world” is one of the most artful propaganda scams ever created by the corporate state. Another one of those class-based, Aryan-type beliefs about exceptionalism that empire requires to loot, bomb, pillage, plunder and exploit people. (All people are exceptional and divine when allowed to find, determine and experience their own emotional state of being.) First of all, there are few farmers left in this country. Most farming operations are registered corporations. But I know more than a few industrial farmers and to actually sit down and have a frank discussion with them would draw their ire rather than an open-minded consideration of the truth. That’s because our egos build up these belief systems in our head that we are doing good, we are successful, we are important and on and on. And corporate propaganda continues to pump this message into our head. Those primitive voices in our head derive their worthiness based on the work we perform.
This is one of the dumbed-down effects of the corporate state. We derive our worthiness, or lack thereof, through work. If we do work praised by our masters, we are patted on the head. If we don’t, we are labeled lazy or unworthy in some fashion. Often that includes marginalizing, dehumanizing, state handouts. This glorification of work as belief system is absolutely necessary for the endless overproduction and overconsumption that corporate capitalism and the industrial food monopoly needs to survive. So rather than introspectively taking responsibility for our own emotions and subsequent fears that the truth might entail, it’s easier for the ego to project its violence on the world around it. And, that is what closed-mindedness or an intent of control really is. That is how we blind ourselves to reality. Because class-based corporate capitalism is unwittingly some twisted, dystopian, mind control experiment for the masses.
Instead of opening our minds to the truth, we all perpetuate these seemingly endless lies of the mind. These lies or beliefs we tell ourselves and others are fundamental to the success of a class-based, corporate state. They are fundamental to a fear-based society that enforces social and economic conformity for the benefit of a ruling class. You want to wake up to the possibility of a vulnerable, supportive, healing existence in this madhouse? Get yourself a pet or extract yourself from those of class rank and privilege who prey on the rest of humanity. For farmers, that means extracting yourself from what the meddling corporate state violently encourages you to do. And, that may mean the recognition that in this system, you can’t keep your belief system or even afford all of your farm. Because you may find that your excess ownership of land isn’t sustainable unless you are performing state-enforced industrial farming that enslaves you to profit to keep your head above your debts, taxes, overconsumption of chemicals, drugs, petroleum, farming equipment and the like. That is, you cannot afford your existing lifestyle and beliefs unless you grow industrial food goo that victimizes yourself and the world around you.
There may have been a day in the distant past when America was the bread basket of the world. But, those days were not in my adult lifetime. And not when our entire food supply chain was controlled by rent-seeking corporations. Contrary to the belief that the U.S. feeds the world through some great act of selflessness, I have written on here quite a few times over the years about how agri-processors, agri-business and the industrial food monopoly work in concert with the state to destroy local food production around the world. And then enslave the world to the massive overproduction of unhealthy sick food produced in the United States and, to a lesser degree places like Brazil, Argentina and Canada. The same American and European corporations dominate the trade and control of all of it regardless of what nation it is in.
This industrial food overproduction is the same dynamic that drives the massive overproduction of military weapons and instruments of murder and death for the military-industrial complex. It is also the same overproduction of sick care resources. It is also the same dynamic that drives global overconsumption and consumerism. The United States and other corporate states are the world’s dealers of misery and injustice in more ways than one. That includes industrial food driving much of the profits in the sick care complex that is now expanding globally as the world becomes morbidly obese through the adoption of our miserable eating habits. Industrial food overproduction also gives the corporate state even more political leverage and control over other nations and over the global economy. Local farmers cannot compete. And, local politicians often ensure they can’t by being corrupted by corporate state money and power. Nothing creates more pressure on conformity to corporate state directives than enslaving another nation to a basic necessity of survival such as food. 2008 was just a financial crisis for the ignorant state actors and those who serve state violence. For the rest of humanity, it was the shot heard round the world in the corporate state empire’s coming unwinding.
As noted on here before, there are massive unintended consequences to state violence in industrial food and agriculture. Food is used as a weapon by the corporate state. Corporations are constantly trying to pry open new food markets for their for-profit industrial food around the world. They do this by destroying local production and enslaving the peoples of the world into their need for greater and greater rent-extraction aka profit schemes. Without which, this collective corporate state Borg would collapse.
One example noted on here before of the unintended consequences of state violence in agriculture is the massive exodus (diaspora) of Mexicans into the United States. NAFTA allowed the American and Canadian industrial farming complexes to literally dump food on Mexico at below production costs. This state violence destroyed the local, small farmer in Mexico. By some estimates that bankrupted the vast majority of local peasant farmers who then started their pilgrimage north of the border to find economic opportunity. I don’t know the exact numbers but I have seen estimates that this dynamic destroyed the economic livelihood of millions upon millions of Mexican citizens. But it benefited the college-degreed worker in the U.S. and Canada. More of that global violence against the working class by the supposedly “educated” or “intellectuals”. (You can thank Al Gore and Bill Clinton for this massive use of state violence against millions of people in the U.S. and Mexico. Well, and the rubber stamp from the 51st state, Canada. And all of those who supported them. Big L Liberalism and the groupthink that allows it is a Mental Disorder. *So is Big C conservatism and the groupthink that allows it* Small L liberalism, which seeks to free humanity from state violence and the collective groupthink of Big L liberalism is the only truth-based form of liberalism. Unfortunately, in the United States, being a Democrat means you are a brainwashed big L liberal who supports state violence to achieve your party’s mission of winning. Ditto with being a Republican. The collective Borg’s mission of winning through dumbed-down conformity and groupthink. Winning through violence against humanity, might I add.)
Isn’t it funny that problems created by state violence through the industrial food monopoly and NAFTA are now being dealt with in the United States by the creation of new solutions involving even more state violence? It doesn’t matter which side of the political debate one choses in Washington, the end result will involve class-based violence. Deporting people back to Mexico is the epitome of state violence. The misery, injustice and pathological lack of compassion it requires is unspeakable. Especially, when a substantial amount of undocumented Mexican workers showed up here as a result of U.S. state violence against these very people in the first place. Allowing undocumented Mexican workers to stay here under this economic control system simply perpetuates the continued collapse of the American working class’ wage base and living standards. ie More state violence. Pick your poison and root for your favorite political team. Support Democrats or Republicans and enjoy the fruits of your collective violence perpetuated on humanity. Stalin and Hitler would be proud.
When society allows the political class to frame an issue and then allows them to take our personal power to resolve it, we are guaranteed a political solution. In other words, a dumbed-down, conformist one that involves the force of the state. When we allow humanity to solve its own problems through democratic self-rule, empowerment and community, we connect people to each other rather than disconnect them through state violence.
The industrial food monopoly is finished. It’s just a matter of how and when. There is a tremendous amount of inertia behind this leviathan so even after the tidal wave of this system starts breaking against the reefs, it’s going to continue its devastation for some period of time. That’s what we actually see today. We may have already seen the tipping point in this and other issues and we just may not have recognized it yet. Anyone who uses their noggin knows this system is going to fail and fail completely. But, as I type this it ignorantly continues on its blissful way without a worry in the world.
Chipotle is on the right side of history. They aren’t the only company. Corporations, especially corporations under the guidance of mindful, connected, authentic people rather than under the control of the predatory, rent-seeking investor class, can be used to do good when they work on behalf of society. But, these examples are too few and always have been. The rules to the game need to be changed. They are easy to change and would make profound differences to humanity, democracy and to the human experience.
It is evident to me that it is not Adam Smith’s invisible hand of self-interest is not driving Chipotle’s intent. But rather Chipotle is driven by truth and authentic compassion for humanity and the natural world. There is a huge difference. Smith was motivated by the ego. He was, at heart, embracing the primitive self and all of its foibles including its capacity for great evil. If I am selfish, I will benefit all of humanity. How’s that working out for you?
Doing well by doing good is an authentic, selfless human expression of our mind’s divinity or its higher power. Doing well by doing good is driven by an intent of discovery and truth rather than being driven by the disconnected ego’s pathology. Doing well because you see an opportunity for your own selfish personal gain, as Smith supporters believe, is not authentic, is not selfless and is not driven by discovery or truth. It is driven by the primitive ego’s intent of fear (control). That is what drives the disconnected, selfish ambition to achieve class rank, title and privilege at the expense of your fellow man that is the hyper-competitive, pathological corporate state. And, thus it is always going to involve willful and intentional deceit, manipulation, fear, control, violence, class privilege and other manifestations of the ego’s foibles. And in a system such as ours, the ego can conjure up the collective by using state violence to achieve its objective of rote, ignorant conformity on a mass scale. In other words, through the creation of ego-based, dubious or even evil social norms and social values. You know, like America is the supermarket to the world. Or, that we are the world’s global force for good. Or, other equally absurd bullshit.
One of the mockeries of the industrial food monopoly on the Farmed and Dangerous Youtube channel is a video titled “All About Me”. Ahem. It is a mockery of the use of amusement and diversion propaganda used to feint reality by the pathological who wish to control and deceive us. This dynamic is waning very, very substantially in its effectiveness across all aspects of our society as humanity awakens from the lies and deceit used to control us. Ironically, it seems as though the human mind may be in the early stages of adapting to become impervious to the violence of advertising and marketing used to enslave and victimize us. And why shouldn’t it? Freedom from this primitive ego-driven manipulation is necessary for the survival of the species.
Mercola’s post and embedded video on Chipotle’s Farmed and Dangerous The introductory 20 seconds is hilarious – spouting communism, hippies and propaganda. ie, Throwing the false memes created by the corporate state industrial food monopoly back in its face.
Farmed and Dangerous Hulu channel with more videos in the series.
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