4 ms·
I think the parent means things like, draconian copyright rules, ISDS (investor-state dispute settlement), subversion of customer protection rules (e.g. selling
by tomp 8y ago
I think the parent means things like, draconian copyright rules, ISDS (investor-state dispute settlement), subversion of customer protection rules (e.g. selling GMO meat in EU), etc.
In addition, Japan and EU are obviously similarly (very highly) developed countries, so "free trade" between them is very close to "fair trade" as well, as opposed to e.g. free trade between EU and China would be (EU companies would skirt EU labour and environmental laws by producing stuff in China and freely importing into the EU).
- nradov 8y agoBanning GMO meat doesn't protect consumers. It's just unscientific pandering to special interest groups.
- ionised 8y agoBanning hormone-treated beef and chlorine washed chicken would protect customers from shitty food though.
- nradov 8y agoThose issues are separate from GMOs.
- tomp 8y agoYou probably meant to write allowing GMOs is pandering to special interest groups? https://qz.com/1524049/monsanto-is-at-the-center-of-a-plagiarism-scandal-rocking-the-eu/ https://qz.com/1524049/monsanto-is-at-the-center-of-a-plagia...
- pawelmurias 8y agoIt's benefiting the special interest of GMO companies at the expense of the special interests of stupid people who are irrationally scared of them.
- superpermutat0r 8y agoGMOs, together with massive animal agriculture are a black swan in the making. Let's modify the organisms, create billions of them, have them as a testing ground for bacteria and viruses, let the bacteria and viruses evolve to eventually kill the resistant individuals, then after it happens we need 10 more years until more than a thousand billion individuals produce a human targeting strain. There is absolutely no scientific way anyone can measure the risk without the effect of time. Not to mention that my story is only one outcome out of many downsides and it's already happening with antibiotics abuse in animal ag. The avian flu is a good past example. The disease sparked from a population of animals we raise the most. Hundreds of billions of chickens were Petri dishes for the ultimate strain of mammal killers. Intuitively these kinds of situations are inevitable.
- pawelmurias 8y agoHow is raising GMO animals more risky? Or do you think the EU should mandate farming boars instead of pigs?
- superpermutat0r 8y agoIf you genetically modify animals to have a stronger immune system there's going to be a natural pressure for stronger bacteria. Just like giving animals antibiotics to spur their growth is riskier than not.
- nradov 8y agoAnimals have been genetically modifying themselves to have stronger immune systems for millions of years. Are you proposing to halt evolution through natural selection?
- superpermutat0r 8y agoI am not. I am saying that evolution is time tested on a huge scale, GMO can never be. By using GMOs one is definitely going to get black swans.