--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Government By The Industry, For The…" description: "\"“Government By The Industry, For The Industry Vice President George Bush sat in his chair across from four Monsanto executives. They had come to the Wh..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d3/jeffrey-m-smith-149040_agent-orange_government-by-the-industry-for-the-indus_736556.jpg" --- # Government By The Industry, For The Industry Vice… ![“Government By The Industry, For The Industry Vice President George Bush sat in his chair across from four Monsanto executives. They had come to the White House with an unusual request. They wanted more regulation. They were venturing into a new technology, the genetic modification of food, and…” quote by Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d3/jeffrey-m-smith-149040_agent-orange_government-by-the-industry-for-the-indus_736556.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d3/jeffrey-m-smith-149040_agent-orange_government-by-the-industry-for-the-indus_736556.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d3/jeffrey-m-smith-149040_agent-orange_government-by-the-industry-for-the-indus_736556.jpg) > ““Government By The Industry, For The Industry Vice President George Bush sat in his chair across from four Monsanto executives. They had come to the White House with an unusual request. They wanted more regulation. They were venturing into a new technology, the genetic modification of food, and they were actually asking the government to oversee their emerging industry. But this was late 1986. Ronald Reagan was president and the administration was busily deregulating business. Bush needed convincing. “We bugged him for regulation,” said Leonard Guarraia, one of the executives at the meeting. “We told him that we have to be regulated.”\[1\] Monsanto was about to make a multibillion-dollar gamble. With this new technology, they could engineer and patent a whole new kind of food. Later, by buying up seed companies around the world, Monsanto could replace the natural seeds with their patented engineered seeds and control a hefty portion of the food supply. But there was fear among Monsanto’s ranks—fear of consumers’ and environmentalists’ reactions. Their fear was borne of experience. Years earlier, Monsanto had assured the public that their Agent Orange, the defoliant used during the Vietnam War, was safe for humans. It wasn’t. Thousands of veterans and tens of thousand of Vietnamese who suffered a wide range of maladies, including cancer, neurological disorders, and birth defects, blame Monsanto.”” [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Industry leaders sought regulation to legitimize a controversial technology, revealing tension between profit motives and public safety concerns. **In simple terms:** Companies asked for rules to protect their new product. Key Takeaway Beware of self‑serving regulation. Themes corporate power regulation ethics public health Mood cautious critical Type political historical When to use this quote - policy making - food industry - environmental safety - consumer protection Key Concepts capture risk management public trust Questions to Reflect On - Who should set standards for emerging technologies? - How can public interest be protected from corporate influence? A Different Perspective Regulation driven by industry may prioritize profit over safety. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Agent orange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agent-orange/) [Around the world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/around-the-world/) [Birth defects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birth-defects/) [Food supply](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/food-supply/) [Genetic Modification](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genetic-modification/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Vietnam war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vietnam-war/) [White house](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white-house/) ## Related quotes > [“A note of caution: epigenetics is also on the verge of transforming into a dangerous idea. Epigenetic modifications of genes can potentially superpose historical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/a-note-of-caution-epigenetics-is-also-on-the-verge-of-transforming/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) > [It is vitally important that we can continue to say, with absolute conviction, that organic farming delivers the highest quality, best-tasting food, produced without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prince-charles/it-is-vitally-important-that-we-can-continue-to-say-with-absolute/) [Prince Charles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prince-charles/) > [“Look at them, the bugs. Humans have used everything in their power to extinguish them: every kind of poison, aerial sprays, introducing and cultivating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liu-cixin/look-at-them-the-bugs-humans-have-used-everything-in-their-power-to-2/) [Liu Cixin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liu-cixin/) > [I have been intimately involved in the techniques of genetic modification as a scientist since GMOs were first conceived. In that time, hundreds of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-j-roberts/i-have-been-intimately-involved-in-the-techniques-of-genetic/) [Richard J. Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-j-roberts/) > [Genetic modification is a very powerful tool. But like any powerful tool, when using it, you have to take into account the environmental impact,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-s-swaminathan/genetic-modification-is-a-very-powerful-tool-but-like-any-powerful/) [M. S. Swaminathan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-s-swaminathan/) > [Genetic modification has many different areas, for example in medicine, and Britain is at the leading edge of this new technology. I don't know,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-blair/genetic-modification-has-many-different-areas-for-example-in-medicine/) [Tony Blair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-blair/) > [“Look at them, the bugs. Humans have used everything in their power to extinguish them: every kind of poison, aerial sprays, introducing and cultivating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liu-cixin/look-at-them-the-bugs-humans-have-used-everything-in-their-power-to/) [Liu Cixin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liu-cixin/) > [There's almost no food that isn't genetically modified. Genetic modification is the basis of all evolution. Things change because our planet is subjected to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-fedoroff/there-s-almost-no-food-that-isn-t-genetically-modified-genetic/) [Nina Fedoroff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-fedoroff/) > [“Apollo has something to teach us as we enter a new century of genetic modification, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology. It's a cautionary tale about that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-smith/apollo-has-something-to-teach-us-as-we-enter-a-new-century-of-genetic/) [Andrew Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-smith/) > [We must feed, shelter, and nurture one another as our first priority, and to do so, we must avail ourselves of our best technologies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hope-jahren/we-must-feed-shelter-and-nurture-one-another-as-our-first-priority/) [Hope Jahren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hope-jahren/) > [In this century, not only has science changed the world faster than ever, but in new and different ways. Targeted drugs, genetic modification, artificial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-rees/in-this-century-not-only-has-science-changed-the-world-faster-than/) [Martin Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-rees/) > [Of course, I prefer organic farming to chemical-dependent farming, but sometimes absolutist organic prescriptions go too far. I don't even rule out the possibility…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tristram-stuart/of-course-i-prefer-organic-farming-to-chemical-dependent-farming-but/) [Tristram Stuart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tristram-stuart/) > [It's a mistake to suppose that capacities must evolve gradually. There are many known examples of sharp changes - slight genetic modification that yields…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/it-s-a-mistake-to-suppose-that-capacities-must-evolve-gradually-there/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [I mean, we're really making a quantum change in our relationship to the plant world with genetic modification.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/i-mean-we-re-really-making-a-quantum-change-in-our-relationship-to/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) ## More by Anonymous > [And a tear rolled down her cheek, as she said goodbye; because she's walking away, and she's never looking back](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-a-tear-rolled-down-her-cheek-as-she-said-goodbye-because-she-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You'll seldom experience regret for anything that you've done. It is what you haven't done that will torment you. The message, therefore, is clear.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-ll-seldom-experience-regret-for-anything-that-you-ve-done-it-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Scrabble - The game is available in Braille. That’s a nice fact. This makes me feel better about humanity for some reason. I can’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/scrabble-the-game-is-available-in-braille-that-s-a-nice-fact-this/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Everyone needs someone to love, and I choose you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/everyone-needs-someone-to-love-and-i-choose-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Put on my J's and dance the whole night away Im naughty by nature like Im hip-hop hooray With my hands in the sky,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/put-on-my-j-s-and-dance-the-whole-night-away-im-naughty-by-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Me.. I have been through a lot, but I still manage to have a smile on my face. Im not worried about the past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/me-i-have-been-through-a-lot-but-i-still-manage-to-have-a-smile-on-my/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Distance is a test of love. many will fail for those who can't withstand it, but for those who can, theres only one answer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/distance-is-a-test-of-love-many-will-fail-for-those-who-can-t/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Im sorry I ever tried...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/im-sorry-i-ever-tried/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Being betrayed by the one you love is the worst feeling in the world...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-betrayed-by-the-one-you-love-is-the-worst-feeling-in-the-world/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Let children support their parents or be imprisoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-children-support-their-parents-or-be-imprisoned/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The only person I've ever purposely caused pain here is myself...By simply sharing, caring too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-only-person-i-ve-ever-purposely-caused-pain-here-is-myself-by/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Start a business, not a startup”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/start-a-business-not-a-startup/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The truth is, of course, that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-truth-is-of-course-that-the-curtness-of-the-ten-commandments-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Explore all 162,899 Anonymous quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More Agent orange quotes > [I was in Vietnam, and I was exposed to Agent Orange. And there's a high relationship between people that were exposed to Agent Orange…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hamilton-jordan/i-was-in-vietnam-and-i-was-exposed-to-agent-orange-and-there-s-a-high/) [Hamilton Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hamilton-jordan/) > [Let me tell you something ass-eyes, let me tell you ALL something: war has made me very PARANOID! and when you get to eye-balling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damon-wayans/let-me-tell-you-something-ass-eyes-let-me-tell-you-all-something-war/) [Damon Wayans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damon-wayans/) > [My mum knows people in the village who died or were affected by Agent Orange who had kids who are disabled. I could have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anh-do/my-mum-knows-people-in-the-village-who-died-or-were-affected-by-agent/) [Anh Do](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anh-do/) > [The reason I'm not more political is because I have music. And from a young age, I needed it. After prison, my father came…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-estefan/the-reason-i-m-not-more-political-is-because-i-have-music-and-from-a/) [Gloria Estefan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-estefan/) > [At this moment, glyphosate is the biggest threat. And because of its overuse, we are seeing the emergence of superweeds, which have grown resistant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoe-lister-jones/at-this-moment-glyphosate-is-the-biggest-threat-and-because-of-its/) [Zoe Lister-Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoe-lister-jones/) > [It won't hurt you. It's just to kill plants. It's called Agent Orange...and it won't bother humans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marlantes/it-won-t-hurt-you-it-s-just-to-kill-plants-it-s-called-agent-orange/) [Karl Marlantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marlantes/) > [“For Americans, Acts 16:9 is the high-fructose corn syrup of Bible verses--an all-purpose ingredient we'll stir into everything from the ink on the Marshall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-vowell/for-americans-acts-16-9-is-the-high-fructose-corn-syrup-of-bible/) [Sarah Vowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-vowell/) > [Yes, there is a story about Agent Orange, and we knew that it harmed our troops and we knew how long it was to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-shays/yes-there-is-a-story-about-agent-orange-and-we-knew-that-it-harmed/) [Christopher Shays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-shays/) > [The more innocuous the name of a weapon, the more hideous its impact. Some of the most horrific weapons of the Vietnam era were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-dickson/the-more-innocuous-the-name-of-a-weapon-the-more-hideous-its-impact/) [Paul Dickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-dickson/) > [“Much of my early career was spent working with two of the most toxic chemicals ever discovered, dioxin and aflatoxin. I initially worked at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-colin-campbell/much-of-my-early-career-was-spent-working-with-two-of-the-most-toxic/) [T. Colin Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-colin-campbell/) > [Seeing the B-52s dropped from planes, watching the burning of civilians with Agent Orange, reading about the incarceration of Vietnamese militants in cages only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-rosenberg/seeing-the-b-52s-dropped-from-planes-watching-the-burning-of/) [Susan Rosenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-rosenberg/) > [ The achievements of past struggles and the aspirations of an entire nation are \[being\] undone and erased… No Agent Orange or steel pellet bombs,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-chossudovsky/the-achievements-of-past-struggles-and-the-aspirations-of-an-entire/) [Michel Chossudovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-chossudovsky/) > [The more innocuous the name of a weapon, the more hideous its impact. Some of the most horrific weapons of the Vietnam era were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-dickson/the-more-innocuous-the-name-of-a-weapon-the-more-hideous-its-impact-2/) [Paul Dickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-dickson/) > [“He works for the CIA. Johnny Redyellow is his name, but I just simply call him Agent Orange.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/he-works-for-the-cia-johnny-redyellow-is-his-name-but-i-just-simply/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [Politicians had always viewed environmental issues as narrow things of no great political consequence. Sort of NIMBY issues. A big part of the reason…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-hayes/politicians-had-always-viewed-environmental-issues-as-narrow-things/) [Denis Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-hayes/) [Browse all 18 Agent orange quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agent-orange/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Government By The Industry, For The Industry Vice President George Bush sat in his chair across from four Monsanto executives. They had come to the White House with an unusual request. They wanted more regulation. They were venturing into a new technology, the genetic modification of food, and they were actually asking the government to oversee their emerging industry. But this was late 1986. Ronald Reagan was president and the administration was busily deregulating business. Bush needed convincing. “We bugged him for regulation,” said Leonard Guarraia, one of the executives at the meeting. “We told him that we have to be regulated.”[1] Monsanto was about to make a multibillion-dollar gamble. With this new technology, they could engineer and patent a whole new kind of food. Later, by buying up seed companies around the world, Monsanto could replace the natural seeds with their patented engineered seeds and control a hefty portion of the food supply. But there was fear among Monsanto’s ranks—fear of consumers’ and environmentalists’ reactions. Their fear was borne of experience. Years earlier, Monsanto had assured the public that their Agent Orange, the defoliant used during the Vietnam War, was safe for humans. It wasn’t. Thousands of veterans and tens of thousand of Vietnamese who suffered a wide range of maladies, including cancer, neurological disorders, and birth defects, blame Monsanto.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anonymous" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/government-by-the-industry-for-the-industry-vice-president-george/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Agent orange" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/government-by-the-industry-for-the-industry-vice-president-george/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d3/jeffrey-m-smith-149040_agent-orange_government-by-the-industry-for-the-indus_736556.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d3/jeffrey-m-smith-149040_agent-orange_government-by-the-industry-for-the-indus_736556.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d3/jeffrey-m-smith-149040_agent-orange_government-by-the-industry-for-the-indus_736556.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Government By The Industry, For The Industry Vice President George Bush sat in his chair across from four…” — Anonymous", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Anonymous", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Government By The Industry, For The...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/government-by-the-industry-for-the-industry-vice-president-george/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/government-by-the-industry-for-the-industry-vice-president-george/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```