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Ever wonder what dandelions, a heart medication company, and pesticides have in common?
More than you'd think.
If you've ever had or known someone who's had heart problems, odds are whatever medication they were taking, it was manufactured by Bayer. Bayer is the leading manufacturer of heart medications worldwide -- they also own Roundup, one of the most popular weed killers used by homeowners and landscaping companies everywhere. At first, the two seem completely unrelated, but the closer you dig (hehe) into it, the more it makes sense.
Now, enter our friend the dandelion -- widely available, completely edible, and used in a variety of salads and other foods. They are more nutrient-dense than kale or spinach, and are packed with a variety of essential vitamins and minerals. But, this versatile plant is used in a much more important way -- it is one of the most heart healthy foods in the world. It is also used for liver health, often prepared as a tea, tincture, or just eaten as a veggie. These are not the limits of its benefits, either -- it is also an antioxidant and a natural anti-inflammatory. Dandelion root can be ground and used as a coffee substitute -- in fact, historically, dandelion "coffee" has been around a lot longer than the real thing! Here's another fun fact: despite limited space on the ship, pilgrims brought dandelions on the Mayflower because of their medicinal benefits.
So, if this amazing plant is so useful and so readily available, why aren't we all using it? The short answer: marketing.
If you ever picked a handful of dandelions as a child and proudly offered them to an adult, you've likely also received the crushing reply, "honey, those are just weeds." And to most of the American population, that's what we've been taught to regard them as. A weed, a simple nuisance to be destroyed -- with weed killers like Roundup. How convenient that the #1 manufacturer of heart medications also owns the product to kill one of the most heart healthy plants. Can't have people using those pesky natural remedies and depriving us of money, can we?
Dandelion antics aside, Bayer's history is for from stellar. In the early 1900s, Bayer introduced heroin to the pharmaceutical market as a trademarked product. They marketed it as a medicine mothers could give to their children for common ailments like coughs or stomach aches.
This also isn't the first time Bayer has dipped into the pesticides business, either -- during World War II, they were part of a consortium called IG Farben that manufactured pesticides. In the 1930s, the company became a Nazi Party donor and throughout the decade purged itself of Jewish employees. In the 1940s, the company relied on slave labor from concentration camps, including 30,000 from Auschwitz, and was involved in medical experiments on inmates at both Auschwitz and Mauthausen. One of its subsidiaries (BASF) supplied the poison gas Zyklon B, which was used to kill over one million people in gas chambers during the Holocaust.
In the subsequent Nuremberg trials, many of the higher ups in the company received prison sentences for their crimes -- however, all defendants who were sentenced received early release. Most were quickly restored to their directorships and other positions, and some were even awarded the Federal Cross of Merit.
In other words, they got away with it, and BASF and Bayer continued to thrive after the war. As for Roundup, well, they actually bought its parent company Monsanto first -- another awful company with awful products. Lots of cancer, lots of lawsuits, etc. Bayer spent over 70 MILLION on Monsanto, and every year they're still spending tens of billions of dollars to settle lawsuits -- the most recent of which are lawsuits against Roundup itself! Who knew? A shady company who funded the Nazi Party makes products that cause cancer? Nahhh, impossible.
So, what do you think? Did Bayer buy Roundup and besmirch the dandelion's good name so that we'd be forced to buy their heart medications? Or is it just a coincidence?
All this is purely hypothetical of course. I definitely don't think any of this is related to each other, and I definitely don't think you should google Bayer or IG Farben or Monsanto to find out what other shady things they've done.
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Holden
This just shows how the people above will just manipulate and lie, even at the expense of healthcare, to add a penny in their pile. Especially in USA, where all healthcare is private. This sickens me, we really need more people like Mangione.
Yep, healthcare in the US is unfortunately a for-profit industry just like everything else. I disagree with you about Mangione though -- I don't condone violence or murder to get your point across, regardless of whether I agree with the intent behind it or not. Violence is the most base, primitive and frankly unintelligent form of communicating. When you resort to violence, you taint the cause you're trying to champion. At the end of the day, that CEO answered to a board of directors, and they probably had his replacement lined up by the next morning. Nothing will change, and now Mangione will be made an example of.
That's not to say that violence has never changed things; the world has a long history of changes that came about through violence. But I fear that the people who needed to hear Luigi Mangione will not care -- they will only remember him as a murderer.
by Dana Scully; ; Report
In a world like this, maybe violence really is necessary. We’re trying to talk to people who won’t listen; people who are literally letting millions die just for more profit. Mercy works in the long run, sure, but honestly, do we even have that kind of time?
Politicians risk millions of lives, clinging to the past even when it screws over the future. Big business is wrecking the planet, trapping people in near-slavery conditions in some places.
War and poverty? We could’ve solved those ages ago. We have the resources, it’s all about distribution, and I have a theory. If everyone had enough to live well, better education, and faster progress, the majority wouldn’t see any point in hierarchy. And that little elite group? They’d lose all their power.
This state of the world is convienient for'em, they won't do a thing about it 'cause they don't care until it affects them. Or at least that's my opinion, maybe we could agree to disagree.
by Holden; ; Report
I do absolutely see where you're coming from, and I understand it. While I personally find violence abhorrent, I do realize that it is of course always going to happen, and that in certain circumstances, good can come of it. I just think in this particular situation, it was poorly executed and won't change anything. I do wonder what would may have happened if it were gone about a different way. If someone had, hypothetically, leveraged that CEO into changing the company's policies for the better. I imagine a man like that had a lot of dirt that could have been dug up for blackmail with enough dedication. If the outcome had been beneficial to the greater good, it may have balanced out the "bad" actions that were taken to achieve it.
And yes, we have the resources to end those problems -- war, poverty, homelessness, world hunger -- we have for decades. But the problem always circles back to human greed. Even If everyone DID have enough to live well, achieve a good education, and we were all equal -- there would still be others who would want more. Sure, that small group wouldn't have much power, but it would be power enough to take what they want from others.
I often posit this scenario to people: let's say that we took ALL the money in the world right now, and divided it perfectly evenly to every person on earth, exact to the penny. Everyone has enough to live comfortably and never have to work again. But what do you think will happen when a foolish or impulsive person spends too much of their money, and now can't afford to live the same as everyone else? Or what happens when someone looking for a little "fun" gets hooked on drugs and blows all their money? Or, perhaps someone just isn't content with their lifestyle, and thinks they should be able to have more. There's only one place they'll be looking -- to others.
It's a tale as old as time -- even at the very beginning of the world, neanderthals were bashing one another over the head because one found a better cave than the other, or had a brought home a bit more meat. Greed, envy, pride -- all human nature. And though most of us try to overcome them, many fail, and some don't even try at all.
by Dana Scully; ; Report