Why Won't Bill Gates Respond To Questions About His Connections To Monsanto?

Monsanto may be the most evil company in a world.

They are responsible for Agent Orange, PCB's, rBGH (bovine growth hormone) and other toxic materials that have caused cancers and deaths.

They polluted a town in Alabama with PCB's, including dumping 45 tons of toxins into the town's drinking water, covered up the extent of the pollution that had occurred over 40 years, and colluded with political officials to avoid prosecution for the crimes.

They secretly dumped tons of toxins in Britain, polluting the groundwater and soil, and did all they could to hide the matter from residents of the area as well.

Monsanto quite literally wants to build a monopoly around the world's food supply.

They currently are working to genetically modify and patent every seed known to man so that they can literally trademark and force every farmer in the world to have to buy see from them every year (as opposed to just saving and reusing the seeds from year to year.)

In addition,  Monsanto pesticides and other ancillary products must be used to get the Monsanto seed to grow, further driving farmers into the financial clutches of the company.

According to the Christian Science Monitor, three companies (Dupont, Syngenta, and Monsanto) already own 47 percent of the global seed market, so they are well on their well to achieving their goal.

But the Monsanto seeds are not quite as good as advertised.

In India, the Mosanto BT cotton seeds have caused the financial ruin of many small farmers. 

Farmer suicides have skyrocketed as a consequence.

By 2008, 125,000 farmer suicides were linked to crop failure brought on by Monsanto seed.

By 2011, the number of farmer suicides linked to Monsanto and other corporate seed practices had increased to 200,000.

In Argentina, Monsanto hired a contracting company that abused workers in slave-like conditions, forcing them to toil 14 hours a day, prevented them from leaving the fields, and withheld wages.

You can watch a 2008 documentary called The World According To Monsanto to see a good overview of the evils of this company, but I'm sure you get the point:

Monsanto is evil.

So why would any self-proclaimed "philanthropist" out to do "good" in the world link himself and his philanthropic foundation to this company?

Well, Bill Gates has done just that.

Gates via his Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation bought 500,000 shares of Monsanto stock in 2010 worth approximately $23 million dollars. 

Community Alliance For Social Justice explains why this is a problem:

“The Foundation’s direct investment in Monsanto is problematic on two primary levels,” said Dr. Phil Bereano, University of Washington Professor Emeritus and recognized expert on genetic engineering. “First, Monsanto has a history of blatant disregard for the interests and well-being of small farmers around the world, as well as an appalling environmental track record. The strong connections to Monsanto cast serious doubt on the Foundation’s heavy funding of agricultural development in Africa and purported goal of alleviating poverty and hunger among small-scale farmers. Second, this investment represents an enormous conflict of interests.”

Monsanto has already negatively impacted agriculture in African countries. For example, in South Africa in 2009, Monsanto’s genetically modified maize failed to produce kernels and hundreds of farmers were devastated. According to Mariam Mayet, environmental attorney and director of the Africa Centre for Biosafety in Johannesburg, some farmers suffered up to an 80% crop failure. While Monsanto compensated the large-scale farmers to whom it directly sold the faulty product, it gave nothing to the small-scale farmers to whom it had handed out free sachets of seeds. “When the economic power of Gates is coupled with the irresponsibility of Monsanto, the outlook for African smallholders is not very promising,” said Mayet. Monsanto’s aggressive patenting practices have also monopolized control over seed in ways that deny farmers control over their own harvest, going so far as to sue—and bankrupt—farmers for “patent infringement.”

News of the Foundation’s recent Monsanto investment has confirmed the misgivings of many farmers and sustainable agriculture advocates in Africa, among them the Kenya Biodiversity Coalition, who commented, “We have long suspected that the founders of AGRA—the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation—had a long and more intimate affair with Monsanto.” Indeed, according to Travis English, researcher with AGRA Watch, “The Foundation’s ownership of Monsanto stock is emblematic of a deeper, more long-standing involvement with the corporation, particularly in Africa.” In 2008, AGRA Watch, a project of the Seattle-based organization Community Alliance for Global Justice, uncovered many linkages between the Foundation’s grantees and Monsanto. For example, some grantees (in particular about 70% of grantees in Kenya) of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)—considered by the Foundation to be its “African face”—work directly with Monsanto on agricultural development projects. Other prominent links include high-level Foundation staff members who were once senior officials for Monsanto, such as Rob Horsch, formerly Monsanto Vice President of International Development Partnerships and current Senior Program Officer of the Gates Agricultural Development Program.

The Seattle Times further explains why sustainable food and environmental advocates find the Gates Foundation connection to Monsanto troubling:

 Much of the foundation's work has avoided major controversy.

That changed when, four years ago, the foundation, along with the Rockefeller Foundation, created the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), aimed at alleviating hunger by boosting farm productivity.

The name itself gave some people pause. An earlier Green Revolution that started nearly 70 years ago had similar aims.

Some say that by introducing high-yield crop varieties it averted widespread famine in India and Mexico and helped those countries become more self-sufficient. Critics, on the other hand, say it led to lasting environmental damage and displaced small farmers, to the benefit of corporations that started up large-scale industrial operations.

The foundation announced it would fund projects that trained farmers and opened up new markets, as well as introduce new seed varieties. Initially, these would be conventionally bred seeds.

But over time, the work has been seen as increasingly tied to large-scale industrial agriculture and has pushed the use of genetically modified crops, critics say. For example, the foundation helped fund $37 million in grants to engineer crops to increase their vitamins and minerals.

Day believes the whole model is wrongheaded. "There's plenty of food being produced in the world," she said. "It's a matter of people being poor, and food not being distributed fairly.
"The Gates foundation is driven by an ideology based on technology," Day added. "Technology doesn't solve all problems."

It seems reasonable to ask Bill Gates himself why his Foundation has invested in Monsanto and why the Foundation is promoting Monsanto products the world over via their "philanthropic efforts." 

Anthony Gucciardi of Natural Society attempted to do just that:

In a unique opportunity to ask Bill Gates himself why he has purchased 500,000 shares of Monsanto behind the scenes (expelled into the news thanks to tax information) and teamed up with Cargill to expand GMOs worldwide, myself and several others asked him ourselves.
Yesterday Gates opened himself up to questions from online users via the social sharing site Reddit, in which he posted an open interview of sorts known as an ‘Ask me Anything’ post. This is essentially an invitation for questions that the subject will answer via text. While I had a large number of questions for Gates, such as if he actually eats GMOs himself, I simply asked him:

“Why did you buy 500,000 shares of Monsanto stock?”

Unsurprisingly, the comment received a large degree of feedback. Users asked Gates to please respond to the question, and several others posed similar variations to Gates that all went unanswered (as to be expected). Some quotes from users in response to my question included:

User Lawfairy replied: “I wish he’d answered this one — to me, this is one of the most curious things about Mr. Gates, whom I otherwise respect as one of the foremost humanists of our generation… Mr. Gates’ relationship with Monsanto is, in my mind, simultaneously the most morally troubling thing about Mr. Gates”
Another user posted (with links intact): “Would you be willing to take some time to give us some insight with your investments in Monsanto? Despite having the headlines of “ending world hunger”, this company has done some despicable things in the past 100 years and I don’t believe they have the public’s best interest in mind. Having a single company or entity trying to “control”, “manipulate” or “own” the world’s food supply, in my opinion, is not the way to end world hunger.”
Another user answered with: “Because he is supporting the Bilderberg group!”

None of these received a response nor did the many others I could not include in this article. The answer, it seems, is to bring this topic to the mainstream. The very same mainstream that seems to think Bill Gates is some sort of philanthropic super star that can do no evil. I am opposed to all wrongdoing at every level, and I find it absolutely disturbing that someone funding the GMO agenda and slave-labor-linked companies has been met with applause.

Gates dodged the question, but it certainly is a good one.

Why is the Gates Foundation partnering with one of, if not THE most, evil company in the world, a company with documented track record of poisoning and killing people, a company whose goal is to quite literally own the world's food supply system, a company with a documented history of hiring contractors tat treat workers like slaves?

Does Bill Gates really think partnering with Monsanto and bringing Monsanto products the world over via his philanthropic efforts will make the world a better place?

It would be nice if some mainstream journalist, like say Nick Kristof, would stop sucking up to the Bill and Melinda Gates long enough to ask them these questions.

But I guess that's asking too much, isn't it?

You can see the theme that runs through Gates' "philanthropic work" in agriculture, disease eradication, education and the like.

He wants to technologize everything - from farming to teaching to disease fighting - and either cannot understand or refuses to understand that often times human technologies are doing as much harm as good (and sometimes much more harm than good.)

It doesn't hurt that he makes money off technology of course, or makes money off his "philanthropic efforts" too by pushing technology into everything, from the classroom to the cornfield.

That's all connected too.

Gates claimed a few years ago that he wanted to give all his money away before he died through his philanthropic efforts.

And yet, he's richer now than he's ever been and is accumulating more and more wealth and power as he grows older.

I am reminded of the Meyer Lansky character Hyman Roth in The Godfather II who claimed to be handing over the Cuban operations and casinos to the Corleones but who really had other aims in mind.

When asked why Roth, already ancient, was still scheming even as he closed in on his own mortality, Michael Corleone says "He acts like I'm his son -- his successor -- but he thinks he's gonna live forever -- and he wants me out."

Gates is the same way - he thinks he's going to live forever and he wants to control everything - from education to disease eradication to climate change mitigation efforts to agriculture to poverty alleviation.

That he gets richer and more powerful even as he "gives" away his money in these efforts tells you everything you need to know about his true motivations.

No wonder he won't answer questions about his connections to Monsanto - it's a window into his true malanthropy.

Didn't Bill Gates Say He Wanted To Give Away Half Of His Money?

I seem to recall that Bill Gates, malanthropist extraordinaire, wanted to give away half his wealth for "good causes"before he died.

That's what Gates' Giving Pledge is all about.

So how is Bill Gates doing in his initiative?

Not so well - he's getting richer by the year:

Despite giving away a staggering $28million dollars in 2012, Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates increased his wealth by $7billion this year.

And with a new net worth around $62.7billion, the 57-year-old Seattle native was named the richest tech billionaire by Bloomberg’s annual Billionaire’s Index.

...

According to Bloomberg’s Billionaire’s Index, which was published yesterday, Mr Gates earned some of his $7billion this year from a spike in Microsoft stocks, which went up 2 percent this year.

In addition, Business Insider reports that the philanthropist, who has given a sizable endowment to the Bill and Melina Gates Foundation, has capitalized a company called Cascade Investments.

In a report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, it was revealed that Mr Gates owns shares in companies like Coca-Cola and tractor company John Deere & Co.

So much for the Giving Pledge.

Gates may play philanthropist at TEDx and his wife may play that role when Nick Kristof is helping her disseminate propaganda via the NY Times.

But Gates is above all a ruthless oligarch looking to wield power and maintain his privilege even as he makes believe he's got other motivations for his actions.

It's not a mistake that he is the second wealthiest man in the world and he's increasing his fortune astronomically even as many of the rest of us are having to work longer and harder for less and less.

The Gates Foundation, like the Broad Foundation and the Walton group and Bloomberg Philanthropy, promote "giving" that seems to benefit their bottom lines as well as their tax bills.

When it comes to these wealthy corporate criminals, you have to watch what they're doing, not listen to what they're saying (or what their publicists are saying.)

When you watch Gates closely, what you see is a man increasing his wealth by promoting harmful initiatives all over the globe that help increase that wealth (like GMO in Africa that uses Monsanto products or technology in classrooms and teacher training that promotes Microsoft products over Linux and Apple), yet playing a "good guy" in corporate media reports.

Wouldn't it be nice if the media exposed this?

I think it would, but Gates bought off some of the media too (see here and here.)

Prop 37

Proposition 37 in California would require companies to label foods that are "made from plants or animals with genetic material changed in specified ways."

Companies in California will no longer be able to call foods made with GMO material "natural," as they do now.

This is a pretty big thing and of course the big companies are providing funding to fight Prop 37 from passing because they fear once California forces labeling of GMO material, the rest of the nation will as well.

Here you can see the companies putting up money to fight Prop 37.

It's the usual conglomerates, but what you may not know is that many of these conglomerates own the "natural" and "organic" companies.

Kashi, for example, which uses GMO material in almost all of its products (but labels them "natural" and prices them higher accordingly) is owned by Kelloggs.

While Kashi has not donated any money against Prop 37, its parent company Kelloggs has donated over $630,000

If Prop 37 passes, Kashi, the "natural" food company, will have to label the crap its selling as the genetically modified shit it is instead of being able to market itself as some healthier alternative to conventional processed foods.

You can imagine how a change in labeling law will affect dishonest companies like Kashi that sell "natural" foods to consumers that are anything but.

You can see a chart of all the "natural" and "organic" companies and who owns them here.

Just as in education, never believe the hype or the p.r. in the food world.

Follow the money instead.

"Organic" and "natural" companies owned by Cargill, ConAgra, Dean, General Mills, Kelloggs et al. are selling you stuff that is anything but organic or healthy.

Prop 37 will make these shysters and con artists own up to their sleight of hand.

Here's hoping Prop 37 passes.

Oh, and if you have any Kashi in the pantry, throw that shit away.

Monsanto, Dow, Gates Foundation "Teach" Kids About The Wonders Of Biotechnology

From an activity book funded by the Council for Biotechnology Information:

"Hi Kids! This is an activity book for young people like you about biotechnology - a really neat topic. Why is it such a neat topic? Because biotechnology is helping to improve the health of the Earth and the people who call it home."

The Council for Biotechnology Information is a non-profit 501c6 organization funded by Dow, DuPont, Monsanto, and other agri-chemical companies to "communicate science-based information about the benefits and safety of agricultural biotechnology and its contributions to sustainable development."

Thus the activity book for kids.

The message in the book?

Yummy - genetically modified Crunchy Sugar Bombs!!!! Mmmmm....good for you and good for the environment, kids!!!

Except, you know, none of that is true.

Oh, well - this wouldn't be the first Gates Foundation-funded education initiative to do harm.

And this one is partly Gates Foundation-funded - Monsanto helps to run the Council for Biotechnology Information and the Gates Foundation has 500,000 shares of Monsanto.

But hey, this is not about helping Monsanto and the other evil agri-chemical poisoners make more money by brainwashing children into thinking genetic engineering is swell.

This is about educating the kids for the 21st century economy!

Bill Gates, Monsanto, and Blackwater: A Marriage Made In Hell

The Gates Foundation is busy partnering with Monsanto to make Africa a genetically modified continent.

All in the name of "philanthropy."

And of course they own a whole bunch of Monsanto stock.

No wonder they want to trademark all the food on the African continent with the Monsanto brand.

Again, all in the name of "philanthropy."

And they're using Blackwater (now renamed Xe Services) against opponents of their GMO projects.

Here's that story:

A report by Jeremy Scahill in The Nation (Blackwater's Black Ops, 9/15/2010) revealed that the largest mercenary army in the world, Blackwater (now called Xe Services) clandestine intelligence services was sold to the multinational Monsanto. Blackwater was renamed in 2009 after becoming famous in the world with numerous reports of abuses in Iraq, including massacres of civilians. It remains the largest private contractor of the U.S. Department of State "security services," that practices state terrorism by giving the government the opportunity to deny it.

Many military and former CIA officers work for Blackwater or related companies created to divert attention from their bad reputation and make more profit selling their nefarious services-ranging from information and intelligence to infiltration, political lobbying and paramilitary training - for other governments, banks and multinational corporations. According to Scahill, business with multinationals, like Monsanto, Chevron, and financial giants such as Barclays and Deutsche Bank, are channeled through two companies owned by Erik Prince, owner of Blackwater: Total Intelligence Solutions and Terrorism Research Center. These officers and directors share Blackwater.

One of them, Cofer Black, known for his brutality as one of the directors of the CIA, was the one who made contact with Monsanto in 2008 as director of Total Intelligence, entering into the contract with the company to spy on and infiltrate organizations of animal rights activists, anti-GM and other dirty activities of the biotech giant.

Contacted by Scahill, the Monsanto executive Kevin Wilson declined to comment, but later confirmed to The Nation that they had hired Total Intelligence in 2008 and 2009, according to Monsanto only to keep track of "public disclosure" of its opponents. He also said that Total Intelligence was a "totally separate entity from Blackwater."

However, Scahill has copies of emails from Cofer Black after the meeting with Wilson for Monsanto, where he explains to other former CIA agents, using their Blackwater e-mails, that the discussion with Wilson was that Total Intelligence had become "Monsanto's intelligence arm," spying on activists and other actions, including "our people to legally integrate these groups." Total Intelligence Monsanto paid $ 127,000 in 2008 and $ 105,000 in 2009.

No wonder that a company engaged in the "science of death" as Monsanto, which has been dedicated from the outset to produce toxic poisons spilling from Agent Orange to PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), pesticides, hormones and genetically modified seeds, is associated with another company of thugs.

Almost simultaneously with the publication of this article in The Nation, the Via Campesina reported the purchase of 500,000 shares of Monsanto, for more than $23 million by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which with this action completed the outing of the mask of "philanthropy." Another association that is not surprising.

It is a marriage between the two most brutal monopolies in the history of industrialism: Bill Gates controls more than 90 percent of the market share of proprietary computing and Monsanto about 90 percent of the global transgenic seed market and most global commercial seed. There does not exist in any other industrial sector monopolies so vast, whose very existence is a negation of the vaunted principle of "market competition" of capitalism. Both Gates and Monsanto are very aggressive in defending their ill-gotten monopolies.

Although Bill Gates might try to say that the Foundation is not linked to his business, all it proves is the opposite: most of their donations end up favoring the commercial investments of the tycoon, not really "donating" anything, but instead of paying taxes to the state coffers, he invests his profits in where it is favorable to him economically, including propaganda from their supposed good intentions. On the contrary, their "donations" finance projects as destructive as geoengineering or replacement of natural community medicines for high-tech patented medicines in the poorest areas of the world. What a coincidence, former Secretary of Health Julio Frenk and Ernesto Zedillo are advisers of the Foundation.

Like Monsanto, Gates is also engaged in trying to destroy rural farming worldwide, mainly through the "Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa" (AGRA). It works as a Trojan horse to deprive poor African farmers of their traditional seeds, replacing them with the seeds of their companies first, finally by genetically modified (GM). To this end, the Foundation hired Robert Horsch in 2006, the director of Monsanto. Now Gates, airing major profits, went straight to the source.

Blackwater, Monsanto and Gates are three sides of the same figure: the war machine on the planet and most people who inhabit it, are peasants, indigenous communities, people who want to share information and knowledge or any other who does not want to be in the aegis of profit and the destructiveness of capitalism.

Bill and Melinda Gates - doing evil the world over, all in the name of philanthropy, all in the name of "reform."

Since they have no compunction using Blackwater goons against opponents of their GMO agenda, you have to wonder when they will start doing the same against opponents of their education reform agenda.

Again, all in the name of philanthropy - philanthropy that just so happens to help out their bottom line.