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Comment on Citrus Farmers Facing Deadly Bacteria Turn to Antibiotics

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But for Florida’s struggling orange and grapefruit growers, the approvals could not come soon enough. The desperation is palpable

They feel their own economic desperation intensely. How much sympathy can they muster for the desperation of those hospitalized with a racing antibiotic-resistant infection, or their loved ones?

Many of those people will end up economically desperate, too.

The problem is that in many developed countries the agricultural lobby is so strong that they have much more leverage than any other type of citizen. In the end of the day, politicians are to blame for listening to them and allowing them to yield so much power.

Individual politicians have to muddle along balancing many factors and operate within a system which unfortunately requires loads of money to compete in elections.

Some politicians are more to blame than others: those who bend the country towards "one dollar one vote" instead of "one person one vote". Those who lend them ideological support are as bad or worse.

This maddening win by the agricultural lobby over public health is an the downstream result of privileging corporations over individuals.

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