New Colonialism

Is the US abusing our technological power by not managing our emerging bio and nano product introductions? In a transnational sense, whether crops or nano devices are released into nature, there is bound to be crossover into the real world beyond the scope of the product intent. In Mexico, the creep of genes from GM seed and feed has been identified in native crops. In US and other industrial farming states, weeds that are resistant to herbicides are found to be propagating. In the readings on Bali and Africa, modern forestry and water management techniques are found to be misapplied or misunderstood in the context of local agricultural systems.

The US has a direct impact on these societies based on our legal system for innovation that allows new technologies and products to be introduced into the world based on their current context, rather than on their future context. If products and processes are put into the environment in a manner that guarantees their propagation, or at the least does nothing to prevent their propagation, is this an abuse of transnational power. The US may chose to deploy herbicides that are not deadly to specific GM crops, as is the case with Round Up resistant seed from Monsanto, which allows farmers to spray their fields with herbicide with impunity, since their crops are not impacted by the chemical.

But since pollinating animals and the wind do not know national boundaries, the seeds of this technology will spread beyond the release area. If countries do not desire these new technologies, is the US obligated to prevent their release? Nano materials may be resistant to degradation and be an ongoing hazard if included in US built products that are then exported to countries or included in waste products that migrate across borders. Since the US has no treaties beyond current trade regulation to prevent inclusion of these technologies in products, and our legal system does not restrict their use until they are in product that is distributed, it is inevitable that they will spread into areas that may not desire them.

Given the context of the Africa and Bali articles, the imposition of a technology schema on a society unable to defend itself from that technology could be an affront to that society sovereignty. Is the policy of the US and other emerging technology producers equivalent to a new colonialism?