It should be that a fact is a fact.  One look at a political debate will convince you that that is not so.  People interpret “facts” to suit their own agendas. It should be that science or scientific study should be the basis of fact.  But data can be interpreted according to the wishes of the founders of the study.  This is not a good situation and leaves most people in a quandary: when do you accept the perceived benefits of science, and when do you reject them.

Naturalists believe that there is no good chemical, while agribusiness would have you believe that there is no bad pesticide.  Naturalists feel that we should not take into our bodies any form of manufactured medication.  Doctors liberally prescribe medications for a whole range of ailments from the common cold to cancer. There is a conflict here.  How you as an individual decide to act depends very much on the circumstances.  It is one thing to say that you will not use pesticides on your garden in any way, shape or form.  It is another to say to a loved one with cancer that they do not need chemotherapy, but should instead rely on natural remedies.  Steve Jobs tried that even though his rare type of cancer responds very well to chemo.  It is a difficult decision.

Less difficult to make is the decision to reject genetically modified organisms or GMOs.  There may come a time when there is enough evidence to show that GMOs are safe, but at the moment the evidence from disinterested parties is that these mutations are behind many of the surges in disease such as autism, chronic fatigue syndrome and many other auto-immune disorders.  It is easy to say, well just avoid GMOs and you will be alright.  Unfortunately, due to the influence of mega-corporations like Monsanto, it is extremely difficult to avoid GMOs.  Their sweetener Aspartame is found in some 6000 products.  Their genetically modified corn has been turned into corn syrup and who knows what else, present in practically every manufactured food stuff on the planet.  They have promoted their seed to unsuspecting farmers worldwide as the answer to world hunger.  Unfortunately the monoculture/fertilizer/pesticide/irrigation method of farming that is necessary to make their seeds grow has destroyed once fertile land and made future farming impossible.  In the past sixteen years, a quarter of a million Indian farmers have committed suicide because their Monsanto supplied GMO seeds ceased to produce.

There may be times when one opts for a short-term chemical solution as the lesser of two evils, but it is absolutely unconscionable for international corporations to foist often untested chemical solutions on unsuspecting, sometimes ignorant customers, who fall for the media propaganda behind the products. They suffer while the chemical corporations rake in obscene profits.  This is not right.