A confession of sorts…….

"Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'" - Isaac Asimov

I confess that I read the online AMCostaRica.com most every day. I know that Jay is not the world's most professional journalist, and he does not employ the most conscientious of journalists to write for his electronic rag, but where he really gets my goat is in his selection of letters from his readers, where they freely express their opinions. I know that he likes (as would any responsible newspaper person) to see controversy stirred up, so as to stimulate people's thinking and get them talking. But, from my perspective he has a tendency to publish the stupidest, most insipid letters, and then chooses not to publish the responses that you know he gets to those letters. OK, maybe this is my sensitive feelings because it seems like he pretty much ignores all of my responses, no longer publishing any of them, and only acknowledges my responses to these letter with an occasional email, pointing out where he thinks I have it wrong. Be that as it may, I no longer bother sending him anything, since it makes no sense to waste the time I spend on it.

However, just today I was going to really go off on a Mr. Colborn, because his letter is nothing more than a rant from a professional victim, but then I saw the second letter Jay published today, from an Alana Shaffer, of Sardinal. All bets are off. No contest, this lady's letter is screaming for somebody to try to set her straight, even though I know this is not a reasonable goal, since she is most likely a card-carrying, paid-up-member of the Flat Earth Society. But, here goes, anyway:

Please, lady, cite for us just one legitimate scientific study that supports your misinformed beliefs. I know that she likely does not believe in science, while she blithely goes on watching television, and movies, talking and texting, taking her medicine and her 'supplements,' and, of course, avoiding like the plague any food that is not organically produced. And, of course, she likely has no idea of where her food really comes from, and ignores the fact that science produced most of things that make her life easy and comfortable. She also probably believes that the gardener who weeds out his carrots, and removes the plants that don't grow quickly is not interfering with any "natural selection," but completely allowing God's plan to move forward. Likewise, she is blissfully unaware that the pig farmer and the cattleman have deliberately, for many, many generations, interfered with natural selection in order to produce more meat for less cost, with more disease resistance, and so on. All of which constitutes the oldest and simplest methods of genetic manipulation, but she would not see things this way. But, wait. She's probably a vegan or a vegetarian, so as not to interrupt any delicate balance of nature.

She says that genetically modified foods are "proving to be far inferior, severely allergenic, and sometimes even lethal to the consumer." Proven by whom? Inferior in what way? Where is her proof of these ridiculous charges? Give me a break! She obviously did not even read Jay's original article (http://www.amcostarica.com/wednesday.htm#77) to which she made reference, did she? She believes that chocolate is a fruit of the Gods, "designed perfectly for our consumption," does she? I will bet dollars to donuts that she has no concept of just what goes into making that fruit of the Gods palatable for human consumption. I'll bet she also has no knowledge of just how the ancients first used this 'fruit,' either. She probably, in her total ignorance, believes that one just goes out and picks a Hershey bar off the tree whenever the mood strikes one. To get back to my request for her to cite any authoritative source of information to support her claims, let's be clear that it will not satisfy this request for her to do one of those loaded Google searches, either. You know the one. That would be the one where she inputs something like, "harmful effects of genetically modified food production," rather than simply inputting "genetic modification of plants." Unfortunately, this lady is like so many others who make up their mind with minimal information, and nothing, not Hell nor High Water, will change their minds, once they have committed to a life-long system of misguided beliefs and values.

I think that what bothers me most about people like this is that they are not satisfied with clinging to unreal ideas, but want to impose their skewed beliefs onto others. And, then, I fall into the trap of speaking out and trying to show them the errors of their ways, even though I know full well that their minds are closed to new information, or anything that does not fit their preconceived idea of what is right and proper. Oh, well, pura vida con o sin genetically modified food.