Monocropping is like the Vietnam War

 

The analogy is not perfect but it’s close; and while we know how the Vietnam War turned out, it remains to be seen how monocropping will turn out.

 

Monocropping	Is like the Vietnam War
Global Corporations   Big Agriculture ·         Cargill ·         Archer Daniels Midland ·         Monsanto	Global Corporations   Military-Industrial ·         Lockheed-Martin ·         BAE Systems ·         Boeing
Big promises   Feed the world	Big promises   Save the world from communism
Problem of obdurate local opposition   Entrenched local ecologies	Problem of obdurate local opposition   Entrenched guerrillas: Viet Cong
Adopt policy of high-tech destruction   Deforestation, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides	Adopt policy of high-tech destruction   Bombing, defoliation, Agent-Orange
High-tech support for cash crops   extensive irrigation, energy intensive fertilizers	High-tech support for corrupt Diem   Materiel, logistics, ordnance, personnel
War of attrition   Drawn-out battle against resilient local ecology, nature never defeated, always growing back, always regaining lost ground	War of attrition   Drawn-out battle against guerrillas, never defeated, always coming back, always regaining lost ground
Casualties   Civilians (see effects of diet), the environment from chemical run-off, the land from rising water tables and salination, flora and fauna from destruction of local ecologies	Casualties   Military personnel (both sides), civilians, flora and fauna from destruction of local ecologies
Ultimate defeat?	Ultimate defeat   Ever escalating costs and unsustainable methods eventually defeated the US government and military corporations in Vietnam