> Paul Henry Rosenberg wrote:
>
> >First, "Chemicals Called Main Cause of Parkinson's Disease," which
> >points up the fact that cancer is not the only disease corporate
> >polluters are responsible for.
>
> Yeah, corps emit the toxins, but ordinary folks like you & me are the ones
> who use Saran Wrap, drive cars, run the a/c, etc. It's too easy just to
> blame the corps for the schmutz - it's the way we live our lives.
>
> Doug
Well, um, yes, of course. But we don't exactly live our lives under conditions of our own choosing, now do we Doug? Particularly when we lack the holy grail of "perfect information."
Besides, in this case the story reports that scientists said that "Most cases of Parkinson's disease are not caused by a defective gene, but rather by exposure to as yet unknown chemicals in the environment," and went to suggest that "research should focus on potential environmental causes, such as pesticides and herbicides," none of which has much to do with individual consumer choice, unless you can afford the rather substantial organic food premium.
That in turn brings us to last year's attempt to utterly destory the integrity of the 'organic food' food designation -- including bio-engineered foods, as well as those grown on toxic sludge, etc. The great fear is that organic food might continue their growth in market share, and eventually might even offer a competitive market choice across income levels.
In short, it's not exactly as if consumer choices were made in a state of perfect libertarian freedom.
Folks also choose to work dangerous jobs, but that doesn't mean we join Cato in calling for the end of OSHA does it?
-- Paul Rosenberg Reason and Democracy rad at gte.net
"Let's put the information BACK into the information age!"