[Monsanto, De Beers and All the Rest] The Most Evil Corporations Ever
Hexmage-PA
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
EDIT: Thanks to Talleyrand for posting a link to this website that ranks companies by how ethical their business practices are: Better World Shopper
Most everybody is aware that there are corrupt corporations with sleazy business practices selling dangerous products, but I'm not certain if people know who they are. As such I thought it would be nice to have a thread where we can talk about the corporations who are committing violations against human rights and the environment and what we can do about it.
I'll kick us off with Monsanto, the world's leader in herbicides and biotechnology:
Here's a list of some of Monsanto's products (you should totally not buy them!):
*Roundup herbicide
*Genetically modified "Roundup Ready" soy and canola designed to withstand Roundup
*Bovine Growth Hormone for dairy products
*Aspartame (Nutrasweet, Equal)
*Ambien
Apparently there's a neat documentary out about them:
Most everybody is aware that there are corrupt corporations with sleazy business practices selling dangerous products, but I'm not certain if people know who they are. As such I thought it would be nice to have a thread where we can talk about the corporations who are committing violations against human rights and the environment and what we can do about it.
I'll kick us off with Monsanto, the world's leader in herbicides and biotechnology:
Hexmage-PA wrote:electricitylikesme wrote: »
They're the fine makers of "Roundup" and 50 of the US's Superfund sites (areas of extreme pollution).
Oh, and they create 90% of the worlds GMO crops and have released a GMO "Roundup Ready" soybean that can withstand being sprayed with ridiculous amounts of Roundup herbicide. Also 4500 Indian farmers committed suicide after they couldn't afford to pay for the GMO seeds and Roundup that they had been suckered into buying. And they lobby to keep milk containing bovine growth hormones unlabeled.
Not to mention they're tight with several officials in the FDA.
Here's a list of some of Monsanto's products (you should totally not buy them!):
*Roundup herbicide
*Genetically modified "Roundup Ready" soy and canola designed to withstand Roundup
*Bovine Growth Hormone for dairy products
*Aspartame (Nutrasweet, Equal)
*Ambien
Apparently there's a neat documentary out about them:
Hexmage-PA on
0
Posts
The one I mentioned in the OP? Where did you see it? Any good bits that you can recall off-hand?
Maybe he means the Future of Food? It's a free documentary movie on Hulu that rails against Monsanto for the first hour.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/67878/the-future-of-food
Oh snap! They added 21 Jump Street to Hulu, too! Catchy opening.
That said, Roundup is fucking amazing for killing shit in the yard. That stuff is more lethal than ricin.
Weeds grow out of the concrete near the side of my home and pool. If I try to pull them out by the roots, they take away chunks of mortar and concrete with them. I also use weedkiller on any weeds popping up through the driveway for the same reason.
I've been trying to reach you, but your extension cord doesn't reach that far.
Care to tell us who ADM is? Discussing evil corporations is the point of this thread.
Also, you should probably move somewhere far away.
Yes. They had a fucking ton of their modified corn in Texas that drifted into Mexico. Monsanto lobbed a lawsuit and proved that all sorts of corn in Mexico had their patented genes in it. They ended up getting the US government to back them and put a lot of people out of business.
This happens a lot in the US, but now it's spreading internationally.
Fucked up part is Monsantos corn, is rather bad for you. But since it's immune to, well everything. All it takes is a couple seeds and then all your crop has their genes in it and they own you.
Crazy bastards.
Agreed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archer_Daniels_Midland
They are the company the movie the Informant is about.
I've been trying to reach you, but your extension cord doesn't reach that far.
It is the headquarters over in Creve Coeur, Its gated and you can't even see the building from the roads around it.
I've been trying to reach you, but your extension cord doesn't reach that far.
I've been trying to reach you, but your extension cord doesn't reach that far.
They do sell the waste product to pig farmers though. That was kind of neat.
Anyone want to beta read a paranormal mystery novella? Here's your chance.
stream
Slave labor and bullying governments in Africa. They aren't that high up on the douche bag company scale though.
If concrete and mortar are coming out with roots, Then you have more pressing concerns beyond the cosmetic issues.
Also, salt is pretty cheap.
Haha that is so horrible it made me laugh.
EDIT:
It is.
thanks adm
Well, I know that it existed in nature, however I find it really perverse that a company is manufacturing that specific genetic to proactively put into place a monopoly on the industry.
Also, I would like to say that the technology has been in development since the 1990's so it very well could be that I heard of that.
Cause the Moron who owned this house before us planted running bamboo and not clumping bamboo. I need to kill that shit!
Kill seeds are in place. One of the reasons they are not used is because you can cross polinate items and then sue the crap out of people for using your shit.
Evil corporations, you say?
Let me present to you the most evil, unethical, fucked-up company we have in the United States. Let me introduce you to De Beers.
What is De Beers?
De Beers is a diamond mining, manufacturing, and distribution company. They're the largest in the US and one of, if not the, largest diamond companies in the world. If you buy a diamond in the US chances are it's either a De Beers or one of De Beers' subsidiaries. They are literally everywhere: Anything that requires a diamond goes through them, not only limited to jewelry- many manufacturing tools requiring them to be inordinately precise (for instance, electronics manufacturing) use industrial diamonds, and De Beers is a main supplier. Where do you think they get the diamonds for diamond-tipped drill bits? Bingo. De Beers. They're huge.
So, they're bad because they're "huge"?
Oh, no. Oh hell no.
De Beers rose to power in the 20th century as a major diamond supplier by pioneering the strategy that Microsoft got so vilified in the 90s. Seriously, their business ethics make fucking Enron look like your friendly neighboorhood small business.
What would they do? Well, first, they'd do the old standby of "by every smaller company who sold diamonds". In other words, monopolistic practices. Secondly, they would flood their monopoly in cheaper diamonds then their competitors, thus forcing many companies to sell their diamonds either at a loss, go out of business, or join the De Beers monopoly. Thirdly, and most damning of all, they would-and still do- control sales of diamonds from the supply side.
See, what'd they'd do was was they'd buy up the stock of their competitors, forcing these companies out of business- with no stock to sell, how could they stay in business? And before you even asked, they started hostile and non-hostile takeovers of diamond mining land, making them the de facto suppliers of diamonds.
Now, after controlling the diamond industry from taking it out of the ground to buying it from you local jewelry store, you'd think De Beers would start selling them at increased prices, as many as they could right?
Nope. They extraordinarily limited supply- a tiny fraction of the "rough" diamonds mined every year are put to sale that same year. De Beers forces many companies into expensive agreements to get a tiny, tiny amount of diamonds, which are then sold to ridiculous markups. De Beers, of course, doesn't do this with any diamond trading companies they, you know, own.
This creates a single-supplier controlled economy. Diamonds are not worth their cost, they cost in the thousands because De Beers controls how many diamonds can be sold in a single year (and if you think a company could somehow try and hoard diamonds year in and year out, think again- De Beers demands proof of sale for all companies' they are in agreement to supply with's diamonds, or the leftover carats get deducted the next year. So, even if you're just trying to sell the shitty clarity, weird or off-color, or bad or out-of-fad cut (certain "cuts" of diamonds become the hot thing and quickly go away, princess and square are really the only reliables) just to be able to get a new stock in, congratulations, you are fucked. This is another way De Beers forces companies out of business without actually doing so- they'll provide impossible to sell diamonds (especially since it's a carat amount being sold and not an actual- they'll sometimes provide instead of a bunch of one or two caraters like a couple of 5 to 10 carat diamonds. Good luck selling 50 to 100 thousand dollar diamonds)
And if you think this is all conjecture, De Beers pleaded guilty in 2004 to a 1994 price-fixing case.
But that's small potatoes in comparison to...
Blood Diamonds
Blood Diamonds. You might've seen the move about it. You might've seen various celebrities bring the issue to light.
I'm here to explain what they are.
You see, most of our diamonds are mined in Africa. Now, remember how I said De Beers owns most of the mining plots. Yeah. They have a bad habit of moving into villages with untapped diamond potential and forcing the native people out, settting up huge diamond mines (destroying the environment and people's livelihood in the process) so they can then re-employ those same forced out people to work for slave wages in diamond mines.
Of course, the African people are obviously not pleased with this event, and they'd probably strike of start violent uprising if it weren't for the fact that De Beers funds civil wars in countries they're currently mining in to keep Africans disenfranchised. Also how they fund terrorism in countries that don't agree to let them mine there. That too.
So, what do we call these diamonds that are the result of slave labor, human rights abuses, genocide, and terrorism? "Blood" or "conflict" diamonds. Yep.
De Beers' Response To Blood Diamonds and The Kimberley Process
So, now when all these fucked up things came out in the 90s, De Beers, suffering negative PR, decided to drastically change how they attained diamonds. They first off promised to not knowingly buy "conflict diamonds" (aside: HAHAHAHAHAHA), then instituted a zero tolerance policy (HAHAHAHA), then in 1999 stopped outside buying (which might've actually done something, but they probably just literally bought all the outside suppliers and/or they're now "employed" by the De Beers company- they've done it before) of any diamonds. They now claim to sell 100% conflict-free diamonds. In response, I now claim to be President of the United States, and the One True King of Middle Earth.
In 2000 the UN, perenially late to the party, instituted the Kimbereley Process Certification Scheme, KPCS for shot. It is a non-binding resolution that countries and mining companies directly involved in diamond manufacturing can opt into. It basically states that any country KP approves provides non conflict diamonds, and any company KP approved sells non-conflict diamonds. Which would be great if the provisions weren't basically "We promise not to make/sell blood diamonds" "We will try not to knowingly buy blood diamonds" in tone. A bunch of promises that no one would be stupid enough to be honest about. Great. Thanks a lot UN.
Oh and by the way if you're found in violation of the KP, you don't get like, punished or anything. It's a "soft law", with no fines or anything put into place. Great, with no enforcement standards and no teeth, this will certainly be successful. It won't be used by De Beers to now do exactly what they've always done but now claim to be "Conflict Diamond Free". Thanks a fucking lot UN.
Cubic Zirconia And Its Effects On De Beers
So, even though diamonds are just bad things all around, you need your pretty, useless rock. Whatever will you do? Well, you could buy Cubic Zirconia.
Cubic Zirconia. Currently 99.9% identical in shape and form to a comparable diamond. The only major differences are:
1) Slightly heavier than diamonds
2) Slightly less hard than diamonds (Moh's 8 to Moh's 10)
3) Usually true colorless, though their color can be made on demand. Yes, this is a positive: True Colorless diamonds are rare and expensive as hell, in comparison to colorless cubic zirconia, which are usually how they're made. But luckily their color can be augmented: Want a blue diamond? You can with cubic zirconia!
4) Usually without flaws, in comparison to diamonds which usually do have flaws.
Cubic zirconia are so close to identical to diamonds that the only way to tell the difference now is usually under a microscope. Cubic zirconia are cheaper, clearer, and better gems to diamonds, and don't have the whole icky "encouraging the most evil company in the world to be the most evil company in the world" thing going for it.
Don't buy diamonds. Buy cubic zirconia.
No see they were all waiting for me to knock it out of the park :P
Monsanto's GMO soy beans were well-documented in the film, as Monsanto sued people who had trace amounts of seeds blown onto their farms from neighbors. Their M.O. isn't to try to win the case, but to drag it out so long that it bankrupts the farmer and they settle out of court. One farmer settled after he spent over $400,000 in legal fees (and mortgaged his implements and property). Another guy, a 75-year old seed cleaner, was sued by Monsanto under the charge his service was making it easier for farmers to illegally obtain GMOs, and lost the case after four years in litigation. Not only did it cost him over $200,000 in legal fees, it bankrupted his business.
Other corporations are taken to task as well. Tyson Poultry was known for signing contracts for private chicken housing, but demanding regular technology "upgrades" (none were proven to have any tangible benefit) on farmers' coops that cost upwards of five times the farmers' annual revenue. The film alleged that the average Tyson cooper had about a half-million in business-related debt.
Tyson (and one other company, I can't recall the name) were also found on hidden camera to have company employees rounding up illegal immigrants to work in their factories, and had brokered deals with local NSA officials to put a cap on deportations as long as the company agreed to let them deport on a regular basis. The company had set up a revolving door for illegal immigrants that let them keep cheap labor and let the NSA save face, as the company would pay no benefits or vacation, and people were immediately fired for first-time infringements.
The worse thing I saw was that in both the Bush (W) and Clinton administrations, FDA and EPA positions were handed out to former boardmembers of the companies they were supposed to be overseeing, and these chairs would then systematically strip those bodies of their criminal authority in matters of negligent business practices. A federal judge even once over-ruled the FDA's attempt to shut down an unsafe/unsanitary plant on the grounds it would "financially endanger the company."
The system, the film shows, is completely rigged and we're all fucked. Unless, it says, we write to our Congressmen, buy local and seasonal foods, and choose organic products when possible.
I have a giant corner lot that I quite simply don't have time to take care of (law school is a bitch). However, I also don't have the money to hire lawn and garden care. I compromise by buying the most lethal concoction of chemicals I can from Lowe's and wiping out weeds with minimal time, effort, and cost.
If I pull by hand, it'd take hours of backbreaking work for little gain. If I hire someone it'd cost me a hundred bucks a month at least. A single large container of Roundup is like $15 and lasts for half a year with bi-weekly use.
Nestle is not bad, they're horrid
Buy Cadburys before Kraft does!
I've heard that before and agree with you on all of that except cubic zirconia. CZ is shit.
They've now got real diamonds that are man-made, at a fraction of the price of 'authentic' diamonds. They can grow them to be arbitrarily large and can be tailored to whichever color is desired. Best part is that it is 100% authentic diamond all the way down to a molecular level. The only way you can tell it wasn't mined is from the lack of imperfections.
Edit: Moissanite is awesome too. Looks better than a diamond in every way, and it is made with SCIENCE!