Why is this important? agronomy and biotechnology are at the core of many issues today. It can be used to help solve climate change, build a better future where we consume healthy food responsibly, or it can be used to keep making money at the expense of our environment, farmer's mental and physical health, the consumer's health.
These students have been essentially taught the latter (according to them), meaning they are encouraged to just keep creating pesticides that will be ever so slightly less bad for the environment, or to promote 'green capitalism', which in essence is just capitalism rebranded as something 'green'. They call out this system for being responsible for burn outs and shitty grind culture, asking their audience the rhetorical question of : 'do you want to live a life where you get 5 weeks of vacation to make lots of money, and end up with a burn out any way? all while harming the planet and our societies ?'
This is absolutely mind blowing, because this school of agronomy is in France, and France really has an elitist system of schools and universities which are known, for some of them, to promote the exploitation of others in some form or another. Many graduation ceremonies are sponsored by companies like Total, a French fossil fuel company. The fact that students from a famous university in Paris called this out in front of thousands of future agronomers is outstanding. what's even more outstanding is this was met with thunderous applause.
the video in question: Des élèves d'AgroParisTech appellent à “déserter” lors de leur remise de diplômes – YouTube
(it is in French of course, I hope YouTube has decent subtitles for it 🙂 )
So mentalities are changing. people everywhere are seeing the big picture, and fighting for a system that no longer forces us to work ourselves to death to make a little more money while big companies make lots of money while ruining the biosphere. more and more are choosing to reject the bullshit that is the system we live in. Everywhere I look, I see people discussing the problems with capitalism, be it reddit or imgur and so on. we really are waking up, and there are many of us willing to change things, by doing small and big things like standing up for ourselves during a job, consuming better, or simply just slowing down, being nice to other people and putting family in front of work.
A personal note : I am myself an agronomy student. Today was litterally my last class in university ever. this summer, if exams and thesis go well, I will graduate. this message could literally not come at a better moment for me, and it moved me in such a way that I felt compelled to share it with you guys, to remind you that things are changing, really. And we really can do something about it all.
source for the claim that France has an elitist system : Inequality in French Schools | French-Property.com
source for the claim that 'AgroParisTech' is part of this elitist system : Grande école – Wikipedia AgroParisTech : Rankings, Fees & Courses Details | Top Universities