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I have no problem with free market capitalism, if it's fair. But some think that companies like Genetech exploit the rules around patents and intellectual prope

I have no problem with free market capitalism, if it's fair. But some think that companies like Genetech exploit the rules around patents and intellectual property at the expense of people's lives and receive preferential status. There's a difference between making your money back to cover the cost of research and development while making a profit, and plain old greed. A 20 year lifetime on a patent with a 3-7 year window of exclusivity means you might be dead before you can afford treatment. That's one of the ethical issues that we will hopefully address in a sane and logical way as we move forward. How much money should one be able to make if they are adding days to your life? I do agree that this type of thing may be helpful to humanity. I just cast a skeptical eye knowing how the drug industry has worked in the past.

jerf 13y ago
Bear in mind I consider everything you just said to themselves be failures to allow for a free market. Patents are government monopolies, not creations of a free market. (To which the natural next slur is "Oh, you want no regulation then?" No, I strongly believe a free market requires some basic maintenance to harness properly, and I'm a particular fan of internalizing externalities via government action. However, virtually by definition, if patents are being "abused", that is not maintenance; that's sand in the gears.) I consider the idea that we live in some sort of anarchic free market wonderland today to be nothing more than propaganda, used by those who want to use government to take even more control over your life. There's very few free segments of the modern market that are even remotely free; they simply aren't as centrally managed and regulated as they could be.
king_jester 13y ago
> I have no problem with free market capitalism, if it's fair. Free market capitalism isn't fair. All the dynamics and mechanics of capitalism have nothing to do with fairness.
- ianstallings 13y ago
  I should have qualified that statement more. What I meant was I am against rigging the system and cronyism. "Free market" was the wrong term. I prefer a market that is overlooked by society, with the authority given to government. It's a balance that is still unfair in a lot of aspects of course, because with a winner there is a loser. But the fairness comes in the fact that anyone can be a winner. We're still working on that obviously.
  - ianstallings 13y ago
    Overseen also. Overlooked? Well.. that already happens.

jerf 13y ago

Bear in mind I consider everything you just said to themselves be failures to allow for a free market. Patents are government monopolies, not creations of a free market. (To which the natural next slur is "Oh, you want no regulation then?" No, I strongly believe a free market requires some basic maintenance to harness properly, and I'm a particular fan of internalizing externalities via government action. However, virtually by definition, if patents are being "abused", that is not maintenance; that's sand in the gears.) I consider the idea that we live in some sort of anarchic free market wonderland today to be nothing more than propaganda, used by those who want to use government to take even more control over your life. There's very few free segments of the modern market that are even remotely free; they simply aren't as centrally managed and regulated as they could be.

king_jester 13y ago

> I have no problem with free market capitalism, if it's fair. Free market capitalism isn't fair. All the dynamics and mechanics of capitalism have nothing to do with fairness.

ianstallings 13y ago
I should have qualified that statement more. What I meant was I am against rigging the system and cronyism. "Free market" was the wrong term. I prefer a market that is overlooked by society, with the authority given to government. It's a balance that is still unfair in a lot of aspects of course, because with a winner there is a loser. But the fairness comes in the fact that anyone can be a winner. We're still working on that obviously.
- ianstallings 13y ago
  Overseen also. Overlooked? Well.. that already happens.