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GE and TM

By Jim Peron

HL Mencken once wrote that he "never heard of a Socialist who did not also believe in some other quackery."

In 1926 he noted that after a government clamp down on the radical Left in the United States many socialists fled the movement for other "causes." He wrote that when socialism "collided slambang with the harsh and horrible facts" that its followers "fled in this direction and that. Some took to spiritualism, some to chiropractic, some to Genesis. Some, like [Upton] Sinclair, took to prohibition, the single tax, fasting, and the electronic vibrations of Dr. Abrams. But not one, so far as I can make out, took to sense."

Mencken seems to have gotten it right. He had the annoying habit of doing that. It attracted him legions of fans and many archenemies - the latter usually far more vocal than the former.

I was reminded of Mencken's comments when I got a phone call from someone who was an anti-GE activist who wanted information about what I had written in Free Exchange about initiatives.

But quickly his conversation turned to GE and he had an absolute fit when I said I supported GE.

It didn't take long to figure out a few things. First, he thought anyone who supported GE was either stupid or in the pay of the biotech industry. Second, he believed in massive cover-ups, conspiracies, plots and so on. He also talked about the "balance" of nature - a view of the world that I think is outdated and naive.

He brought up arguments that I tried to counter by citing the accepted literature. Well, it seems he also doesn't trust mainstream science, doesn't like modern medicine, doesn't trust evolutionary theory, ad infinitum. We clearly have opposite worldviews.

A bit of research turned up that he's a major GE opponent in New Zealand. He also believes in space aliens and secret technologies. He supports a long line of what I think to be quackery and since modern science thinks such things are quackery too he opposes modern science.

He quoted to me the book Hard to Swallow which is an anti-GE diatribe by Jeffrey Smith.

Coincidentally I've been researching Mr. Smith for the last week. Smith's book, originally published as Seeds of Destruction was published by himself. While the logo on the book said it was publish by Yes! Books it seems that the company operates out of Mr. Smith's dance studio. Smith has confirmed that the Yes! Books never published another book prior to his and none since.

What I found out about Mr. Smith, and which I will go into shortly, is that he's a member of a really bizarre cult that has designs on the anti-GE movement and has already infiltrated it. Their opposition to GE is not based on science. In fact, like this activist who called me today, they oppose science - which doesn't mean they won't use scientific jargon to support their arguments.

When this activist started quoting Smith as his source I asked him if he was involved with the cult in question. He says he's not. But he immediately assumed the question was an ad hominem argument. Is it?

I don't think so. We realise that many people have many reasons for believing what they do. And we know that some reasons are better than others. Even the most religious among us tend to dismiss faith-based reasoning particularly if the faith on which the reasoning is based is one other than their own.

A fundamentalist Baptist who argues for evolution would be an anomaly. A book about evolution by a Christian fundamentalist is not likely to be taken too seriously by anyone except fellow fundamentalists. The same is true if an orthodox Catholic wrote a book on stem cell research. We know there are people who interpret their science through theological lenses.

It's not that such people don't have the right to do so. It's just that most of us, particularly the media, take the scientific conclusions these people draw with a very large grain of salt. And rightly so!

But the Smith book is not taken that way. The political Left has a tendency of being duplicitous in their principles. They'll pooh-pooh books on evolution by a fundamentalist and dismiss articles on the science of stem cell research written by Catholics. In fact I clearly remember various Green groups attacking Julian Simon and his "pro-population" beliefs. They said Simon was a Catholic and he had an axe to grind - wasn't Simon actually Catholic, but that's neither here nor there.)

So Mr. Smith's cult leanings should be investigated. It's proper to ask what his worldview is and whether or not someone with such views should be considered an accurate source for scientific facts. And I think we'll see that he's not. More importantly we'll see that there is a vocal sub-group of Greenies who come to their views through their religious beliefs - beliefs that the vast majority of people would recognise as totally bizarre.

My interest in Smith began when I heard a Greenie promoting the book on the radio. I wanted to know who Smith was and where he was coming from. The local publisher of his book, Craig Potton Publishing, is a real publisher and has actually produced other books - unlike the initial publisher of the book, which was Smith himself. Potton did, however, change the title. Originally it was called Seeds of Deception. But that title was probably too similar to the anti-GE book Seeds of Distrust by Nicky Hager, which Potton also published.

Potton said, concerning Smith: "Jeffrey Smith is a writer and educator and has been involved with genetically modified foods for nearly a decade. He has worked with a non-profit group to promote labelling of GM foods, proposed legislation to protect farmers from genetic drift and to keep GM food out of schools, and worked for a GMO detection laboratory. Prior to working in this field, Jeffrey Smith worked with health and environment issues in the non-profit sector. He has a master's degree in business administration and lives with his wife in Iowa in the USA. Jeffrey has a very informative site including up-to-date media information and links about the anti-GE and -GM Debate." The Greenie on the radio said Smith was also a candidate for US Senate - which does not necessarily mean much.

I was curious and wanted to see Smith's party affiliation. That might tell me something about the man. It told me far more than what such affiliation normally would say. If he were a Democrat, for instance, I'd generally assume he's left of centre but not know much more. If he ran for the Communist Party that would tell me a lot. And Smith's party affiliation spoke reams since he was the candidate for US House of Representatives for the Natural Law Party.

This is the political party that was started by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a proponent of a bizarre Hindu cult the nature of which we'll get into later. Suffice to say that the Natural Law Party promotes the Maharishi and his sect as the answer to all the world's problems - literally.

At this point you need to know that the Maharishi was the inventor of Transcendental Meditation. And while it is often sold as being only a relaxation technique, it is, in fact, a religion. This matter was resolved in US courts long ago when TM tried to infiltrate the public school system. It is also clear that TM used deceptive practices to cover up the facts about the movement in order to try and get their hands on new converts and as much state funding as they could. TM is the entry point into the cult itself. But the TMs use various fronts to try to recruit people into TM itself and to promote their agenda. And right now they are targeting the anti-GE movement.

One reason is their religious beliefs. But in addition the Maharishi, the TM cult, and various TM practitioners have strong financial interests which benefit from an anti-GE scare. Proof of that will follow as well.

To begin our journey through this maze of cult front groups lets start with Mr. Smith's connections to the Natural Law Party. The NLP clearly is used to propagate the doctrines of the Maharishi. And during an interview on CNN between Larry King and the Maharishi, King brought up the connection that the Maharishi did not even try to deny.

The US NLP is a bit more deceptive than other branches. Their party platform merely repeats the same mantra that "proven programs" will help solve all problems. They usually don't spell out what those "proven programs" are but sometimes they move the curtain back to make it clear. In their plank on education they say "proven developmental techniques, such as the Transcendental Meditation Program" should be used.

In their "military" plank they recommend training military personnel in "the proven peace-promoting technology of the TM-Sidhi program," a supposedly higher - and more expensive - version of TM.

The New Zealand branch of the NLP is a bit more explicit in their connections to the Maharishi and the TM cult. Their platform openly praises the Maharishi and promotes TM. Their platform is one long propaganda piece of the most absurd theobabble around. Imagine a political platform that says: "The constantly changing field of the relative is rooted in the unchanging field of the absolute."

In the NZNLP platform they promote the "Maharishi's technologies of consciousness" and argue that all Maori leaders should be trained in "Vedic science which underpins and nourishes all cultural expressions." The "Vedic science" is the Maharishi's interpretation of Hindu scripture. In addition they want each "iwi college" to "also have a coherence group of Yogic Flyers, extending its powerfully positive influence across the whole iwi area."

The Maharishi has several levels of TM and the further one gets into the system the more obviously religious it becomes. The Yogic Flyers are a reference to one of the more bizarre aspects of TM. The Maharishi says that higher levels of TM will enable the practitioner to walk through walls, turn invisible and fly. Yogic Flyers are just that - individuals sitting in yoga positions meditating who claim they can fly. So far all anyone has managed is to sit on their hindquarters and bounce with a great deal of effort on their part.

The Maharishi's web site says:

"One aspect of the TM-Sidhi programme is called Yogic Flying. During the first stage of Yogic Flying, the body lifts up and moves forward in short hops. Subjectively one experiences exhilaration, lightness, and bliss. EEG studies show that during this practice, at the moment the body lifts up, coherence and integration is maximum in brain wave activity. This optimum coherence in brain functioning creates perfect mind/body co-ordination which is expressed by Yogic Flying. This coherence indicates action from Transcendental Consciousness, the Unified Field of Natural Law, where infinite organising power is lively. When Yogic Flying is practised in groups, this influence of coherence spreads throughout the environment, reducing negative tendencies and promoting positive, harmonious trends in the whole society."

During later stages the Maharishi insists that the practitioner will eventually fly through the air merely using his own innate powers. It appears that the Maharishi believes that the multitude of Hindu gods created a balanced world and that chanting their names, as well as making expensive sacrifices to them, will help bring practitioners into tune with this "natural law". Once that is achieved, miraculous things will happen. Hence TM is the solution to virtually every conceivable problem. The French NLP issued a statement saying that "a coherent group of 7,000 people practicing Yogic Flying" can "give the euro the necessary stability." They call this the "Maharishi effect".

Recently the OECD reported on New Zealand's economic growth. They said: "Underpinning this improved performance has been the programme of reforms that began almost 20 years ago." Not so, says the NZNLP. According to them the growth was due to the Maharishi effect.

"New Zealand's spectacular advance in economic efficiency compared with other developed nations, beginning in 1993, was due not to government policies, but to the Maharishi Effect, a phenomenon in collective consciousness that was first identified 40 years ago by His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi."

According to the cult "the Maharishi predicted that when one per cent of a population learned Transcendental Meditation (TM), the community or nation concerned would experience a sudden turnaround of social and economic indicators...." But the new, improved TM, Sidhi-TM, which includes Yogic Flying, "would be induced by just the square root of one per cent of the population practicising together in the one location.." For New Zealand it means 200 faithful bouncing on their buttocks can lead to peace, prosperity and good health.

The NZNLP says that the problems of education are simply solved. "All that is required is an additional lesson of about 10 minutes daily for each age group and a few minutes of daily practice of Transcendental Meditation." The NZNLP claimed that when Mozambique had weather problems TM solved them. "Of particular interest was the ending of a ruinous drought in Mozambique shortly after coherence groups (Yogic flyers) were established there." Well the drought did end. It turned into floods. Clearly they bounced too much.

Health care problems? Try TM:

"A Natural Law government would also build Maharishi Health Education Centres in every significant rural population centre. These facilities would offer prevention-oriented care, linking traditional Vedic diagnosis and treatment with modern health care. The Maharishi Health Education Centres would also offer instruction in the Transcendental Meditation and the TM-Sidhi Programme, thereby equipping rural populations with the means to reduce stress and to enhance the ability to manage their manifold responsibilities."

The solution to crime:

"For crime in any society is yet another reflection of the collective consciousness of that society. ...The voluminous research on the Maharishi Effect has focussed to a considerable extent on its impact on crime. "

"A Natural Law government would therefore establish the practice of Transcendental Meditation throughout the schooling system, both for its educational performance benefits and for its effectiveness in preventing delinquent and anti-social behaviour."

And why worry about national defence when you can have invincible defence:

"Natural Law would add a vital ingredient to its defense strategy - the establishment of a "prevention wing" in the armed forces."

"The role of the prevention wing, comprising a small proportion of regular service personnel, would be the permanent maintenance of the Maharishi Effect through Yogic Flying. This would have two main consequences - the raising of coherence within the country, thereby replacing negative socioeconomic indicators with positive indicators, and the radiating of positivity and harmony to all other nations, in so doing averting the birth of an enemy. This would result in what Maharishi has called 'victory before war'."

This begins to show one difference between a cult and a religion and it shows why we should be more wary of cult members having an agenda than we already are when people have a specific religious agenda. An orthodox Catholic might see things through theological eyes when speaking about stem cell research. But other than some specific issues where they are clearly biased there is no one view of the world. A Catholic economic proposal could be almost anything. Some are market oriented and some are socialists. A Catholic will respond with specific proposals. They won't merely tell you to light a candle and say the rosary.

But our TM friends are different. They seem to actually think that TM solves everything. They even promote a solution to terrorism which, of course, requires large sums of money - $1 billion US to be precise - to set up TM centres around the world where people will engage in religious practices - which they insist on calling "science". Solve crime by chanting. Education problems? Try chanting. Health care policy problems? Take up chanting. It's a one-solution-fits-all-problems view of the world.

Within the TM cult there is what they call Vedic health. This covers things like organic foods. For theological reasons the Maharishi is big into organics. It's also big business for the cult and it's members. While the anti-GE movement makes much to do about any perceived connection between being pro-GE and GE companies they ignore their own connections to the organic industry. Yet their web sites and organisations are constantly promoting the virtues of organics - which is not healthier and often very unsafe despite what they say. And this brings up back to Jeffrey Smith.

Read the biography of Smith again. Let's notice a few things. Remember he was a candidate for the Natural Law Party, the TM movement's political arm. In the US the cult main headquarters is in Fairfield, Iowa. It is also where they cult runs a so-called university - the Maharishi University of Management. It is also where the Natural Law Party has their headquarters. The cult runs other schools there as well. In addition it is the location where Smith lives. He was the NLP candidate for this area in fact. His book was published in Fairfield.

And remember the local publisher said Smith worked for a GM "detection" lab. Well the Lab was a for-profit company called Genetics ID. The head of the company is an anti-GE crusader named John Fagan. But Fagan is not just an anti-GE activist. He too is connected to the Maharishi's cult. In fact he's a paid staff member at the Maharishi's university. Not only does his theology conflict with GE, but so does his pocketbook. Genetics ID directly profits from anti-GE hysteria.

As long as people falsely believe that GE food is poisoned or deadly there will be a demand to test foods for "contamination". And that is precisely the service that Fagan offers. And Jeffrey Smith was, and possibly still is, an employee for this company. He's been listed as a "spokesman" for the company in some press releases and as vice president in others.

Genetic ID is partly owned by Fagan along with two other individuals: Jay Marcus and Bill Witherspoon. The three are also partners in Certification Consulting International, Inc., and in ID, Inc. All of which are located in Fairfield. It's useful to them to have these businesses so close to the TM cult's US headquarters and the cult's Natural Law Party.

Jay Marcus was also a NLP candidate in Iowa several times. According to Consumer Freedom Marcus, Fagan and Witherspoon "have a long list of other business and political interests, all linked to the Maharishi cult and Natural Law Party."

Witherspoon also runs an organic supply business called Westbridge Agricultural Products as well as an organic certifying company and an organic harvest company. His income is heavily dependent on people believing that organic food is good and GE food is bad.

Fagan, who is widely quoted by anti-GE groups and well connected to various organic groups, doesn't hide his connection to the Maharishi cult though he does follow the cult line of insisting it's not a religion. Critics of TM argue this is merely a ploy. After all the cult is quite open about trying to get their ideas taught in public schools, at public health centres, in the military, in state prisons, etc. In our secular age most governments are hesitant to allocate taxpayer funds to religious groups. However, a case in a US court soundly concluded that TM is a religion. And it is well known that the mantras TM practitioners are given are names of the various Hindu gods. In addition the cult now offers sacrifices to Hindu gods to practitioners. For thousands of dollars the practitioner can hire a cult leader to make sacrifices of food and other items to the gods on their behalf. This, along with the pricey TM lessons, is supposed to clear away negative energy. Maharishi told Larry King that he's "establishing groups of people practicing Yogic Flying and Vedic pundits performing the yagyas [sacrifices] which will eliminate the negative influence on life on earth."

Fagan's commitment to the Maharishi is directly tied to the cults anti-GE stand and it's financial interests in organic foods. In a letter to Richard Broome of the Safe Food Coalition in South Africa - another anti-GE front - Fagan said he was "glad to hear that you are making some progress on the GE issue in South Africa." According to the South African Business Day newspaper the SFC is a front for the Maharishi's Natural Law Party. Fagan ended his letter to Broome saying, "[a]gain, it was great to hear from you, and I wish you great success in all the work you are doing for the Maharishi." No doubt supporters of the Safe Food Coalition thought Broome was working for "safe food" not for the Maharishi.

The NLP front in South Africa also sponsored bringing Fagan to South Africa to speak against GE. The SFC presents itself as being merely citizens concerned about GE. The connection to the Maharishi cult is carefully hidden when possible. That this is merely another cult front is clear. Andrew Taynton, founder of the Safe Food Coalition sent the following email to the US Federal Department of Agriculture.

If you go to www.safe-food.org from the US this time you come to another one of the numerous anti-GE groups that seem to proliferate in cyberspace. But what may not be known is that this is just another Maharishi front group. Like the Natural Law Party, like Maharishi University, like Jeffrey Smith and John Fagan and Genetic ID this organisation coincidentally is run out of Fairfield, Iowa. For a town of only 10,000 people it's a busy place apparently.

Mothers for Natural Law say: "Our agenda originally embraced everything from the environment to crime, education, health and the economy. However, because of its extreme urgency, we made genetic engineering our only focus for our first four years, and put all of our other plans on hold." Well, it embraced all those things because it was, and still is, a front for the Maharishi cult.

MNL says they worked to establish a network of organic companies and health food shops:

"The first step we took in this area was to find out what the industry knew and felt about genetic engineering. In response to our initial inquiries, we developed a version of our Information Packet, specifically designed to provide support materials for manufacturers, distributors and retailers on the safety, environmental, ethical and consumer concerns about genetic engineering. Our orientation was to provide solutions which will bring strength to the industry, and position it as a haven for non-genetically engineered foods for the American consumer. We were the primary non-commercial and cost-free resource for locating non-genetically engineered ingredients for manufacturers so that their products can be kept genetically natural. Our sourcing research was responsible for a large number of non-genetically engineered alternatives both in the U.S. and Europe. During our 1998 campaign, we created a GE Retail Kit to help natural products retailers educate their customers. Our work has been covered by almost every industry-related publication including Natural Foods Merchandiser, Delicious!, Vegetarian Times, Coop Grocer, Conscious Choice, Natural Health, Provender Alliance, Natural Business, Business and the Environment, and Nutrition Science News, as well as every major news outlet, including the New York Times, the LA Times, the Boston Globe, the Associated Press, the Financial Times, National Public Radio and PBS."

Anyone want to bet that along the way they help market the Maharishi's line of organic produce!

This NLP front, which itself is a front for TM, says they established a coalition of 40 groups to fight GE technology:

"In February '97, we helped create a national coalition of over forty scientists, consumer groups, business leaders and organizations to keep genetically engineered organisms out of the organic market. (Members included, Citizens For Health, Pure Food Campaign, Farm Verified Organic, Seventh Generation, Eden Foods, Council for Responsible Genetics, Whole Foods Markets.) This coalition generated national press coverage, including reports by the LA Times, NPR, UPI and Christian Science Monitor Radio. Members of this coalition also launched a nationwide response to the proposed USDA regulations on organic standards resulting in the largest public response in USDA history. In March 1998, Mothers was invited to represent the organic consumer at the largest annual natural products industry press conference, with 50 reporters present, leading to several interviews with prestigious mainstream media publications."

They, like many of the TM fronts, now promote mandatory labelling of foods for GE content. Such laws would require that the food be tested and certified as being GE free. Even when GE is allowed, they still want mandatory labelling laws certifying whether or not the food has GE content. Of course such laws would directly benefit fellow cult member John Fagan and his Genetic ID company which is promoted by the anti-GE movement. And Jeffrey Smith, author of the new anti-GE book, has financial links to the company.

Of course the fact is that Mothers for Natural Law was always a front for the Maharishi's various ideas and ventures. According to MNL archives at Iowa State University:

"Mothers for Natural Law was founded in June 1996 for the broad purpose of providing practical action steps for mothers to safeguard the health and well-being of their children in respect to the environment, crime, education, health, and the economy. Its founder, Laura Ticciati, a Fairfield, Iowa, woman, was an activist with the Natural Law Party ..."

In addition, the archives state:

"Basing Mothers for Natural Law in Fairfield, Iowa, she dramatically narrowed its focus in July 1996 to an educational and lobbying campaign against genetically engineered foods. Its agenda included rigorous pre-market safety evaluations, mandatory labeling, and a moratorium on genetically engineered food production. By 1997, Mothers for Natural Law became the nationally recognized clearinghouse for information on the issue of genetically engineered foods."

So in fact MNL is in the perfect position to dominate the GE movement when it comes to the issue of labelling. It can send people to Fagan's lab quite easily. A huge number of anti-GE groups, including GE Free New Zealand link to the MNL site.

TM practitioners in Fairfield, despite their efforts, still were not numerous enough to control town politics. After all they only made up 25% of the town folk. So they made the move to establish their own city, Vedic City. And in 2003 they succeeded in becoming officially recognized. Once that was done one of the first things they did was remove any pretence of not being a cult city. The first resolution of the city council was to declare that "Total Natural Law" as defined by the Maharishi would be the Constitution of the city and Sanskrit - I'm not kidding - would be the city's "ideal language." The second resolution was "Expand the Name of the City from Vedic City to Maharishi Vedic City." Oddly while they only changed their name in the second resolution the first resolution already referred to them as Maharishi Vedic City. It probably was bad politics to have Maharishi so openly associated with the name of the city when seeking its legal status.

The city then began passing resolution to create all sorts of city owned enterprises including a "central bank". The city also went into the business of producing organic foods according to Maharishi's principles. And just to make sure the market is skewed in their favour they passed a law banning the sale of any food product in town that wasn't organic. Once they had their hands on political power they immediately started looking for tax supported subsidies and financing for their activities. Resolution 18 said that the city' should work with its "Agriculture Steering committee in applying for and securing federal and state grants, loans, and loan guarantees, and in attracting other financing ...to develop greenhouse production, processing, packaging, and direct marketing of organic produce." Resolution 23 dealt with an application for grants from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Resolution 38 officially established "Maharishi Vedic city Organic Farms".

The Resolution says it was passed on the "auspicious Akshakya Tritiya Day, the Day of Lasting Achievement". It seems they misspelled the name. It's supposed to Akshaya, not Akshakya. It's an Indian holiday of new beginnings celebrated on the birthday of Parshurama, who is supposed to be the sixth incarnation of the Indian god Vishnu.

The Resolution says that the purpose of the Maharishi Vedic City Organic Farms is to grow "abundant, nutritious Vedic organic vegetables, fruits and other foods, and that it supports for all time the creation and maintenance of world peace."

Maharishi Vedic City is using its political status to issue taxable and tax-exempt notes to raise funds for the project. Yet Vedic food is fundamentally no different from Kosher food or Halaal food. Certainly, government funding should have nothing to do with religious based food production. But Maharishi City has no such principles about separation of church and state. The political left usually screams about such connections, but when organic food is involved they seem strangely silent.

In addition, Maharishi city got $23,000 from the US Department of Agriculture to subsidise wind turbines and solar energy for the Vedic organic industry. And the city says they expect "a $25,000 low interest loan from the Iowa Energy Bank" as well.

The organic food project, which includes planting according to moon and sun cycles, is being financed with $3.3 million in municipal revenue bonds backed by the city.

According to the Des Moines Sunday Register Maharishi city is "the first city in the world to be constructed according to design principles espoused by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who popularised transcendental meditation." What is not mentioned is that the Maharishi also has commercial ventures that design buildings that he finds acceptable. In addition he has his hands in commercial ventures that develop real estate and build housing according to his teachings.

The city also established chanting centres for TM practitioners, which would be the equivalent of Auckland building churches. The city bragged that they spent $1 million to purchase an old building that "will now become the physical headquarters for the Capital of the Global Country of World Peace". The Maharishi has said he is establishing a world government and presumably Maharishi Vedic City is now to be the capital. The Maharishi appointed a leader who is referred to by the city as "His Majesty Rana Nader Raam" who has been invited "to take up residence in The Mansion and conduct his worldwide activities from there." Even more grandly ,Maharishi said: "Today, we are on earth establishing the physical structure of the Capital of the Universe, the physical structure of the Capital of Heaven on Earth, the administrative centre of the Cosmic Administrator of the Universe. The world was purified, and the Reign of Raam, the perfect administrator, came back to earth." Not very humble is he?

They even have their own flag, a golden sun within a red circle on a gold background that has been raised over the city and other cult centres. The city is also, in violation of the US Constitution, helping establish a centre for 8,000 Vedic students to practice TM. And once established, the city sent letters out to all city mayors in the world (so they claim) asking them to set up TM "World Peace Palaces" with tax-payer funds in their cities as well.

Maharishi city hall is used as a centre for fundraising for cult activities and the city web site says anyone wanting to donate to establish a meditation centre can call city hall for information on supporting Vedic scholars.

Now Jeffrey Smith's connections are a bit more obvious. Yet the Greenies in New Zealand have no hesitation in promoting the "scientific" writings of man who has theological and financial interests in groups that oppose GE. He's presented as an unbiased expert.

GE-Free New Zealand has promoted the new edition of the Smith book. But this is the same GE-Free New Zealand that has issued press releases from Jon Muller of Wellington. Muller happens to be the Natural Law Party spokesman on genetic engineering and agriculture. He is also GE-Free New Zealand's organiser for Wellington. On the same page that the NZNLP promotes Muller as their spokesman is a not so subtle link to the local Transcendental Meditation groups.

Such religiously inspired links are blatant, but the Left is strangely silent. What hypocrites! They dismiss religiously based viewpoints in politics when it comes from their opponents - a move which I think is rational. But they don't do the same when the anti-GE movement is riddled with front groups and individuals associated with the Maharishi cult.

They don't want religious practices subsidised by taxpayers. Again, they are right to take that stand. But when taxpayer money is used to promote organic foods against GE foods they say nothing.

When a researcher has even the most obscure link to a commercial biotechnology enterprise the Lefties scream about conflict of interest. They denounce anything the researcher says as being tainted by "corporate" money. His only motivation must be greed. Then they turn a blind eye when people financially profit from the anti-GE scare they cause - people like John Fagan and Jeffrey Smith. Well, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. Or, more appropriately - what's good for the GM producer is good for the organic producer.

Jim Peron is the Executive Director of the Institute for Liberal Values, the editor of the book The Liberal Tide, and the author of the forthcoming book 'The Road Not Taken: Resolving the Crisis on the Roads.'

 

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Institute for Liberal Values, Friday September 10th 2010.