# Political Compass #49: Companies exploit the Third World's plant genetic resources. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 31, 2005, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-49-companies-exploit-the-third-worlds-plant-genetic-resources/287568 "2005-01-31T10:09:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-49-companies-exploit-the-third-worlds-plant-genetic-resources/287568/1 "2005-01-31T10:09:49Z")
Many political debates here have included references to [The Political Compass](http://www.politicalcompass.org/), which uses a set of 61 questions to assess one’s political orientation in terms of economic left/right _and_ social libertarianism/authoritarianism (rather like the “Libertarian diamond” popular in the US). And so, every so often I will begin a thread in which the premise for debate is one of the 61 questions. I will give which answer I chose and provide my justification and reasoning. Others are, of course, invited to do the same **including** those who wish to “question the question”, as it were. It would also be useful when posting in these threads to **give your own “compass reading” in your first post** , by convention giving the Economic value first. My own is **SentientMeat** : Economic: **-5.12** , Social: **-7.28** , and so by the above convention my co-ordinates are (-5.12, -7.28). Please also indicate which option you ticked. I might suggest what I think is the “weighting” given to the various answers in terms of calculating the final orientation, but seeing for yourself what kind of answers are given by those with a certain score might be more useful than second-guessing the test’s scoring system. Now, I appreciate that there is often dissent regarding whether the assessment the test provides is valid, notably by US conservative posters, either because it is “left-biased” (??) or because some propositions are clearly slanted, ambiguous or self-contradictory. The site itself provides answers to these and other [Frequently Asked Questions](http://www.digitalronin.f2s.com/politicalcompass/faq.html), and there is also a separate thread: [Does The Political Compass give an accurate reading?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=248133) [size=2]Read these first and then, if you have an objection to the test _in general_, please post it there. If your objection is solely to the proposition in hand, post here. If your objection is to other propositions, please wait until I open a thread on them. (And for heaven’s sake, please don’t quote this _entire Opening Post_ when replying like [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=5174935&postcount=4) sufferer of bandwidth diarrhea.) The above will be pasted in every new thread in order to introduce it properly, and I’ll try to let each one exhaust itself of useful input before starting the next. Without wanting to “hog the idea”, I would be grateful if others could refrain from starting similar threads. Finally, I advise you to read the **full** proposition below, not just the thread title (which is necessarily abbreviated), and request that you debate my **entire OP** rather than simply respond, “IMHO”-like, to the proposition itself. To date, the threads are: [Does The Political Compass give an accurate reading?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=248133) [Political Compass #1: Globalisation, Humanity and OmniCorp.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=247383) [#2: My country, right or wrong](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=247908) [#3: Pride in one’s country is foolish.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=248375) [#4: Superior racial qualities.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=248580) [#5: My enemy’s enemy is my friend.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=248753) [#6: Justifying illegal military action.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=4721158) [#7: “Info-tainment” is a worrying trend.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=249406) [#8: Class division vs. international division. (+ SentientMeat’s economic worldview)](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=249816) [#9: Inflation vs. unemployment.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=250658) [#10: Corporate respect of the environment.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=251067) [#11: From each according to his ability, to each according to need.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=251262) [#12: Sad reflections in branded drinking water.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=252138) [#13: Land should not be bought and sold.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=252355) [#14: Many personal fortunes contribute nothing to society.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=252559) [#15: Protectionism is sometimes necessary in trade.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=253029) [#16: Shareholder profit is a company’s only responsibility.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=253423) [#17: The rich are too highly taxed.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=253803) [#18: Better healthcare for those who can pay for it.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=254432) [#19: Penalising businesses which mislead the public.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=254988) [#20: The freer the market, the freer the people.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=255448) [#21: Abortion should be illegal.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=256127) [#22: All authority must be questioned.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=256613) [#23: An eye for an eye.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=257404) [#24: Taxpayers should not prop up theatres or museums.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=258246) [#25: Schools shouldn’t make attendance compulsory.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=259172) [#26: Different kinds of people should keep to their own.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=260249) [#27: Good parents sometimes have to spank their children.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=261472) [#28: It’s natural for children to keep secrets.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=262859) [#29: Marijuana should be legalised.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=263418) [#30: School’s prime function is equipping kids to find jobs.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=264126) [#31: Seriously disabled people should not reproduce.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=270464) [#32: Learning discipline is the most important thing.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=271521) [#33: ‘Savage peoples’ vs. ‘different culture’](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=271672) [#34: Society should not support those who refuse to work.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=273891) [#35: Keep cheerfully busy when troubled.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=274840) [#36: First generation immigrants can never be fully integrated](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=275445). [#37: What’s good for corporations is always good for everyone.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=276872) [#38: No broadcasting institution should receive public funding.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=278439) [#39: Our civil rights are being excessively curbed re. terrorism.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=280258) [#40: One party states avoid delays to progress.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=284761) [#41: Only wrongdoers need worry about official surveillance.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=286899) [#42: The death penalty should be an option for serious crimes.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=287969) [#43: Society must have people above to be obeyed.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=288516) [#44: Abstract art that doesn’t represent anything isn’t art at all.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=290299) [#45: Punishment is more important than rehabilitation](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=292787). [#46: It is a waste of time to try to rehabilitate some criminals.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=295477) [#47: Businessmen are more important than writers and artists.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=297342) [#48: A mother’s first duty is to be a homemaker.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=298595) [/size] \*\*_Proposition #49:_ Multinational companies are unethically exploiting the plant genetic resources of developing countries. SentientMeat\*\* (-5.12, -7.28) ticks _Disagree_. Throughout the series, I have tended to present the ways in which capitalism (for all its admitted benefits) risks making the world a _worse_ place than it need be, thus requiring the interference of a democratic government. Here, where some might claim that the same is true, I feel that I must argue capitalism’s case in how it can make the world _better_. I should first clarify what I think the proposition relates to: had it said “exploiting the resources”, or even “exploiting the _plant_ resources”, I might well have ticked _Agree_, perhaps even _Strongly_. However, it specifically refers to _plant **genetic** resources_, which is clearly the domain of intellectual property rights for pharmaceutical, industrial or cosmetic products developed from natural flora. I feel that the key question which we must ask ourselves here is “how best might we **encourage _progress_?”**. If these companies have no _motivation_ for seeking out and developing new products from natural sources, is it realistic to expect those products to arise _at all_? I would suggest **not**. That funny little flower with the baffling anti-cancer properties would simply grow, reproduce and die (or, worse, become extinct when yet another tract of forest is turned, myopically but understandably given extreme poverty, into farmland). Granting the company a 20-year monopoly on that specific enzyme, protein or gene sequence is simply the quickest and most efficient way of getting the relief derived therefrom to the largest number of people. The worldwide sufferers of those conditions simply _cannot wait_ for the developing countries to exploit their _own_ resources in the same manner. Indeed, the international patent system is perfectly accessible to those countries _also_ - one wonders why they don’t simply find the useful plant genetic resources, patent them _themselves_ and _sell_ those licenses to the multinationals… Oh, wait, one doesn’t wonder at all: It is precisely _because_ they are “undeveloped” that they have not the exploration, research and intellectual-property personnel or infrastructure to exploit _their own_ resources. Yes, I agree that rich countries ought to provide debt-relief and continue to invest in developing countries so that _one day_ they might exploit and develop their own resources. Yes, they should occasionally _relax_ certain patent monopolies in order to provide maximal humanitarian benefit while still motivating progress (for what _use_ is progress if it blesses only the wealthiest few?). And yes, I agree that it niggles one’s conscience to allow a patent to be granted on something which _nature_ effectively “invented”. But if we prevent companies exploiting these resources _now_, or at least if we do not _reward_ them for it, we condemn those with conditions which might have been relieved by novel treatments to unnecessary suffering. _That_ is ultimately the **more unethical** option, in my view. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-49-companies-exploit-the-third-worlds-plant-genetic-resources/287568/2 "2005-01-31T13:46:18Z")
Can’t disagree with anything you posted. I ticked **Disagree** purely on the presence of the word “unethically” in the statement. There is nothing unethical about developing a resource. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-49-companies-exploit-the-third-worlds-plant-genetic-resources/287568/3 "2005-01-31T13:55:04Z")
Disagree. Why would they think it’s theirs in the first place? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-49-companies-exploit-the-third-worlds-plant-genetic-resources/287568/4 "2005-01-31T17:20:29Z")
I ticked DISAGREE because I couldn’t understand what the propostion meant. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-49-companies-exploit-the-third-worlds-plant-genetic-resources/287568/5 "2005-01-31T17:28:51Z")
> [@](#): > > Multinational companies are unethically exploiting the plant genetic resources of developing countries. My problem with this question is…what exactly does it mean? SOME companies are unethically exploiting? Most? All? What exactly is ‘unethically exploiting’? Unethical to who? Exploited…how is that defined? Exploited in the way that oil is exploited, i.e. meaning simply that the resource is gathered? Exploited in the way that a woman may be exploited by forcing her to be a prostitute? I can’t parse this question in any meaningful way myself, because depending on how one defines the various terms I could agree or disagree. I think I checked ‘disagree’ FWIW because of my own interperatation of what the authors were driving at. -XT ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-49-companies-exploit-the-third-worlds-plant-genetic-resources/287568/6 "2005-02-01T10:07:51Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Can’t disagree with anything you posted. Whodathunkit? 🙂 (Did you even agree with the bits about relaxing certain patents for humanitarian benefit?) > [@](#): > > I ticked Disagree purely on the presence of the word “unethically” in the statement. There is nothing unethical about developing a resource. Although I’m sure we’d agree that ‘developing resources’ _could_ be unethical in certain circumstances (_eg._ paying them a pittance for their lovely rainforest timber) - this isn’t one of them, I think. > [@Rune](#): > > Why would they think it’s theirs in the first place? Well, if that plant was found in your garden, I would at least _understand_ that you felt you were entitled to some share of whatever came of it. I believe one of the stumbling blocks in the negotiations towards a simplified Worldwide Patent is that developing nations wish these kinds of patent to name the country of origin of the plant it was derived from. The US argues that even such a mention might have the country of origin inconveniently thinking that it was somehow _their property_. (Of course, if _they_ ever found something on _our_ soil we wouldn’t so much as mention it, would we?:)) > [@John](#): > > I ticked DISAGREE because I couldn’t understand what the propostion meant. Yes, I struggled a little myself at first, but I’m pretty sure the issue here is that of “[Biopiracy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biopiracy)”. There _might_ be some cases of injustice, but they are more to do with misunderstanding regarding Intellectual Property Law, IMO: you can’t be _prosecuted_ for using something you’ve used for years. > [@xt](#): > > My problem with this question is…what exactly does it mean? SOME companies are unethically exploiting? Most? All? Again, I started the threads so you could tick _and explain_. I’d suggest that it would be unreasonable to approach every proposition from a strict “Is it the case that no single X has _ever_ Y?” viewpoint. Here I am saying that what some might call unethical expoitation, I call necessary motivation. Again, I think the Wikipedia article on Biopiracy explains most of the issues here. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-49-companies-exploit-the-third-worlds-plant-genetic-resources/287568/7 "2005-02-01T13:59:10Z")
I agree in that I think what is driving the question is a situation like [the new seed patent laws in Iraq.](http://www.commonground.ca/iss/0412161/cg161_marya.shtml) > [@](#): > > According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, in 2002, 97 percent of Iraqi farmers used seeds saved from the previous year’s harvest. They have also bred natural varieties of crops, particularly wheat, barley and dates, to be better suited to their particular climate zones. > > This fundamentally natural approach to farming has been a cornerstone of their agricultural system; it has preserved their agricultural heritage and been an economic necessity. Now that’s all changed as a new patent law enacted by the US does not allow Iraqi farmers to save their own seed and forces them to buy seed from government-approved seed companies. If this is what is meant by unethical exploitation of genetic material, then I agree. If it isn’t what is meant by the proposition, then I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-49-companies-exploit-the-third-worlds-plant-genetic-resources/287568/8 "2005-02-01T15:18:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Now that’s all changed as a new patent law enacted by the US does not allow Iraqi farmers to save their own seed and forces them to buy seed from government-approved seed companies. This is simply incorrect. A patent cannot be used to prevent prior use - it can only prevent people making or using the **new** product. In this instance, an Iraqi seed has been **improved** and the Iraqi farmer can choose between using his own seeds from last year or buying improved ones. Now, the Iraqis might have thought of the same improvement themselves, and unfortunately that improvement is now somebody else’s intellectual property (and the US is notoriously lax in granting patent monopolies on “improvements” which the rest of the industrialised world consider _obvious_, but that’s a problem with US patent law rather than the multinationals who appeal to it). But that’s the _only_ thing the Iraqi farmer can’t do - if the Iraqi Administration is forcing farmers to choose improved seeds over last year’s, that is a different issue. And if that improvement he’s no longer allowed to make was so obvious, why didn’t he do it himself?