3 ms·
This one idea is a massively pervasive, invasive meme. It is not remotely true and it is used to justify so much of the harm caused by current neoliberal polic
by dbingham 9y ago
This one idea is a massively pervasive, invasive meme. It is not remotely true and it is used to justify so much of the harm caused by current neoliberal policy and the growing inequality in wealth and power it creates.
Most major advances we now take for granted were the results either of government research funding or passion projects of lone researchers and inventors. Often they were a combination of the two. Many of the lifestyle changing inventions we now take for granted were invented long before they became broadly marketable and often their creators never profited from them.
Markets are handy distribution tools and individual freedoms are important. But profit is not the primary driver of innovation. Passion, curiosity, and desire to make the world a better place -- these are the drivers of innovation.
Of late, the drive toward profit has become a stifler of innovation as "competitive" capitalism, when unregulated under neoliberal policy, moves inexorably towards uncompetitive monopoly in the pursuit of profit.
- marcoperaza 9y agoI think you're placing too much emphasis on the act of invention itself. Figuring out how to build a microwave oven, i.e. inventing it, is but a small part of the enterprise of putting one in every home. Supply chains, marketing, servicing, cost cutting, etc. are all important and tricky parts of it.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- kthejoker 9y agoShenanigans. The same infrastructure serves basically all home delivery, marketing, service, etc. There's not a special new highway or chain store or advertising network for every kitchen gadget.
- prostoalex 9y agoHD-DVD, Betamax and Flooz electronic currency had access to the same infrastructure.
- prostoalex 9y ago> But profit is not the primary driver of innovation. Passion, curiosity, and desire to make the world a better place -- these are the drivers of innovation. So why is it that major advances in pharmaceutical research or technology come from places driven primarily by profit motive, i.e. US? Seems that there would be a more random distribution of such businesses around the world. Are people in areas that focus on quality of life (Denmark, Costa Rica, New Zealand) less inventive, passionate or curious?