Also, by making it so, you characterize an abstract concept. If Monsanto does something wrong, then it reflects on GE, and if one defends GE, then they defend Monsanto. By doing this, you can hit genetic engineering really hard by hitting Monsanto really hard. even though otherwise that would make as much sense as saying, for example ‘McDonalds is bad therefore cooking is bad.’ But if you tie the technique to a singular entity, you can get people to think that. It is, I recently learned, Rules of Radicals #13. Fallacious and weaselly, but undeniably effective. Anyone who has been called a Monsanto astroturfer for defending what should be considered basic facts about genetic engineering knows how common it is that people assume there is always a connection back to Monsanto. The whole thing is pretty clever in a twisted sort of way.

Maybe I’ve just been called a paid shill one too many times, but that’s how it looks to me anyway.