Assignment

“Because thought has by now been perverted into the solving of assigned problems, even what is not assigned is processed like a problem.  Though, having lost autonomy, no longer trusts itself to comprehend reality, in freedom, for its own sake.  This it leaves, respectfully deluded, to the highest-paid, thereby making itself measurable”

-Theodor Adorno, ‘IQ’, 1951 (in Minima Moralia: reflections from damages life New York, NY: Verso. 2005. Pg 196)

Feel-good

“The technology presents itself as a feel-good solution for politicians who’d rather not face the more profound, persistent and difficult questions of politics and distribution…[T]he danger of such crops…is not merely that they are ineffective publicity stunts.  They actively prevent the serious discussion of ways to tackle systematic poverty…

…The structural problems facing rural communities can only be addressed by concerted public action.  The intervention of genetically modified seed, however, postpones the need for this action, delaying the imagination and creation of more robust alternatives”

-Raj Patel, on GM crops, 2007 (Stuffed & Starved. Brooklyn NY: Melville House. 2007. pg 137…157)