I hear ya, especially on aeroplanes (it turns out the Wright brothers were kinda jerks). It's such a shame that, due to the current nature of political discours

I hear ya, especially on aeroplanes (it turns out the Wright brothers were kinda jerks). It's such a shame that, due to the current nature of political discourse, it seems that the only two plausible options are (a) artificial and stifling patent monopolies or (b) expropriation by the state. There seems to be a very sensible, but verboten, middle ground here: government funding of socially beneficial research and, if a significant public benefit can be demonstrated, compulsory state acquisition under the condition that just compensation is given.