Great article Seanconnery, and I don't argue any of it.
However, I'm still left with questions. See, I was born and raised in the Northeastern US. All my childhood memories of spring, summer and fall include clouds of knats following me around trying to bite. If you turned around fast, several of them would end up in your mouth or eyes, gagging you. I also remember the (biting) deer flies, horse flies, and clouds mosquitoes. By the time I came along, they had been spraying DDT for 30-odd years. I never wanted to return to where I was born simply because of all the insects that want to eat you (there).
Fast forward some number of years - 2 years ago I returned to visit in mid June. I spent some time with the family and relatives - fishing, hiking, etc. Not one bug bothered me or anyone else - except maybe the stray mosquito occasionally. I asked them about it and they said "we don't really have a problem with knats and such, anymore".
This area of the country isn't know as an agricultural center for great distances in any direction - and further, many of the biting insects (that bothered me as a child) never eat from plants - they are swamp/marsh/wet are insects that feed on animals (yes, I know male mosquitoes do). So ..
.. where did all of those insects go? Certainly neonics can't have reached them too? If so, how? ... I don't know the answer(s), and I don't defend neonics. But I do wonder how much of the answer can be found via other chemicals or growing practices that aren't being talked about, or maybe the answer lays in the book of Revelations. ... wish I knew ...