There is a lot of valuable information in this post, and thus it should not be read carelessly. First of all, Cartalucci brings us up-to-date on one of the fundamental causes of the deep political conflicts raging in Thailand. A second section is devoted to some very interesting ideas about self-sufficiency using high technology that empowers people. It's clear to me that such applications of technology are not possible within capitalist systems of exploitation. And, finally, some political recommendations about how to deal with the current crisis.
The problems faced by rice farmers have only been compounded, however astronomically, by the current regime's ill-conceived, failed vote-buying scheme. Farmers are facing increasing hardships that began long before this latest national disaster - and hope of rectifying any of them seems remote at best.
Another grave and growing concern is the increasing monopolies held by foreign big agricultural corporations who have set about miring Thailand's farmers in a web of debt and perpetual servitude toward chemicals and genetically modified organisms (GMO).
The cycle of chemicals and industrial scale monoculture (the dependence on only a single crop) leave farmers entirely dependent on both large agricultural corporations to grow their crops, and big-retail to sell them.
