I don’t envy proponents of genetically modified organisms, as a technology. On the one hand they have to grapple with heinously unethical corporate greed as large businesses try to patent something that doesn’t always follow the logic of possession; on the other they have to deal with scientifically illiterate antis who conflate corporate ownership and the actual research.

Like many topics, it’s something you ought to sit down with for a while and get acquainted with the issues. A lot of wires are crossed in this conversation, so doing your homework is a prerequisite for not looking like an asshole.

That, of course, will never deter Jordan B. Peterson.

One of the things I worried about with the anti-GMO movement was the unsubstantiated myth mongering about Monsanto. It wasn’t that I particularly cared for this company, but I feared what they might get away with if people kept raising false alarms. I guess now we’ll find out because this time, it’s real.

Vance Crowe, Monsanto’s “Director of Millennial Engagement” (I kid you not, that’s his title) has officially announced a fireside chat session with crank ideologue Dr. Jordan B. Peterson (JBP) at the 2018 American Farm Bureau Federation’s Annual Convention. Who is that? Nobody really knew but oh, I was familiar. I run in science/skeptic activist circles so JBP has been on my radar for a while now as a notorious pseudoscientific blowhard.

When I wrote “We Are All #Monsanto” in 2014 I meant it in a way to explain how Monsanto was no different than any other company. Those apologetics would take on new meaning. Monsanto may be just as bad as all the rest but that is not a thought that should comfort. As a science activist who was one of the founders of March Against Myths, our platform started with the principle of this as a justice issue. We came out swinging hardand I’m proud of the work we did. Every year we met anti-GMO in the streets bringing direct action tactics to the defense of science. We carefully crafted our mission and installed a code of conduct in representation of our values. My commitment to justice is not limited to the scope of anti-GMO myth mongers. It extends to junk science injustice anywhere especially as it threatens our LGBT/non binary participants and allies.

So what does this Canadian Professor of Psychology have to do with ag? Not much, and neither does “GMO” quite frankly. The topic of this “chat” is The Danger of Allowing Ideologies to Grow Unopposed. Kinda ironic that, seeing as JBP espouses his own dangerous ideology. His is a crusade against postmodernism and cultural Marxism which basically amounts to a right wing cartoon boogeyman conspiracy theory. It would be laughable except he has become an alt-right demagogue employing academic jargon to justify prejudice. There are many layers to this onion, I’ll try to unpeel a few for you.

If you can relocate your eyes after they rolled out of your head, you can read more here.

-Shiv