Pat,

> So much for "nothing as good since sliced bread"--Wonder Bread kept the
> vitamins, protein, and minerals, made some sort of covering for fatty lunch

What is this Wonder Bread?

> bit of salesmanship; good old American ingenuity, hmmm? Snake oil.

That's the point.

I once read in a fantasy novel about 'the best salesmen
of the universe'. They had developed their art so far
that they were able to sell the pure image of things:
Their books had only empty pages, their clothes were
rags.

I think we are vastly approaching the same state:
There are already things that look like ripe Tomatoes
and taste like rinsing water, Melons without seeds and
without taste, Chicory that was risen in chemicals and
stone wool...

> I'm not so sure. GA papers reported this week that BT (Bacillus
> thurengiensis), a perfectly magic bullet of a insect pest deterrent with

Yes, this nonsense goes on and on. The farmers are
talked into buying genetically engineered seeds that
are 'immune' to the pest deterrent of the same
producer... Or they buy seeds that cannot be used
to grow their own seeds later...

> Vanderbilts' Biltmore estate in Asheville, NC? The beat goes on....

Same with tobacco and smoking stuff producers, or
with alcohol and drug kings. The producers of all
these legal drugs have a high standing in our
society.

-Karl