Here is a quote from C.S. Lewis that I believe is particularly insightful. Hat tip to Doriangray for pointing it out to me in one of his posts, here.

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. – C. S. Lewis

For the good of all man kind, a group of eco-terrorists decided to destroy mature crops of golden rice, just prior to harvest. The result of course is that some of the children living in the Philippines, who have the problems associated with Vitamin A deficiency, such as immunodeficiency, onset of blindness, and possibly death, will now continue to be malnourished. So, they got that going for them. This happened on August 8th, but a post up at Hotair reminded me that this lunacy is continuous, and worth keeping in mind.

One of the things that I find so objectionable about the anti-gmo crowd is that they are unfortunately successful most often in third world nations, where the only other option is mass starvation and/or disease. If these jerks, and the only reason why I don’t use stronger language is due to censorship issues, succeed in getting Golden Rice banned, literally, millions will perish as a direct result. Those who don’t feel the agony associated with starvation will still have blindness and increased incidence of disease to look forward to. In the fervor to be the self anointed arbiters of all things environmental, these idiots of course will cling to their unearned moral superiority, regardless of the very real hell that they’ve seen fit to inflict upon others.

Most insidious of all of course is this little nugget. Not one of those Leftist loons has ever known hunger. Only people born of and used to plenty have the time to busy themselves with other people’s business. The rest of the world is too busy trying to pull their own weight, take care of their families, or more to the point, feed themselves and their families. Seriously, if you are not someone who is used to the concept of not knowing when you’ll eat again, the last thing on Earth that you should be criticizing, is the earnest attempt of others who are working to solve that problem for others. Just once, I’d like to see these lunatics be held accountable for the consequences inflicted upon others.

Organic farming methodology is capable of feeding no more than 3.5 Billion people. With over 7 Billion people on the planet today, which half of the world’s population are you Eco-Nazis willing to see starve? Also, I couldn’t help but notice that this is our old friend Green Peace who pulled off this heinous act. So, once again here is my favorite quote from a renowned ecologist, who was there at the very beginning of that worth while cause.

Patrick Moore, founder of Green Peace, on why he left that organization:

Basically they are using sensation, misinformation, and scare tactics. The environmental movement was basically hijacked by political and social activists who came in and very cleverly learned how to use green rhetoric or green language to cloak agendas that had more to do with anti corporatism, anti globalization, anti business, and very little to do with science or ecology, and that’s when I left. I realized that the movement I had started was being taken over by politicos basically, and that they were using it for fundraising purposes. Nobody is going to listen to you if you say the world is not coming to an end, but if you say the world is going to end, you get headlines. And so sensationalism, especially when it’s combined with misinformation leads to a situation where people send gobs of money to these groups for campaigns that are actually totally misguided.

Just one final thought. I have never argued against the right of the Lefty crowd to shop at organic only markets and pay the price for their groceries. I have even refrained from pointing out the simple fact that not one credible scientific study of any kind has ever come close to verifying their claims. Organic food has not been proven to be one bit healthier. GMO’s have never been shown to be harmful, in any way. Organic food and GMO’s have always come out equal in blind taste tests. I have never pointed out how mind numbingly stupid one has to be in order to pay the exorbitant prices associated with the organic only foods. That’s the individual choice that every person deserves to make for themselves. The other side of this debate however does not see it that way. They feel that divine providence has given them the morally superior position of making that choice not only for me, but for all of man kind. While they scream about the evils of big-agro, it is they who are attempting to extend their political power beyond just themselves, and that is wrong. I want to maintain my right to pay the lower prices associated with the full usage of improved technology. I want my fellow man to be certain of having ample food to eat, and companies such as Monsanto are able to make that happen. That’s my choice. Quite frankly, in terms of moral high ground, there’s no contest here.

Cross Posted from Musings of a Mad Conservative.

UPDATE:

Here is a much better description of the events in the Philippines.