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Small point, but I think the writers of Breaking Bad agree with you more than you think they do. The show was in no way endorsing meth cooking, as it ruins (nea

Small point, but I think the writers of Breaking Bad agree with you more than you think they do. The show was in no way endorsing meth cooking, as it ruins (nearly) every aspect of Walt's life. In fact, the show was basically saying, "Hey, teaching needs to be more valued in our culture, because right now 'good' teachers can't afford what they need and feel discouraged." Now, of course the meth-cooking was an exaggeration--and in no way is Walt excused for his actions (he had friends, family, and co-workers all offering to help)--but it was meant to show how trapped teachers felt.

logfromblammo 12y ago
We can take Walter White as a methaphor (yes, pun intended) for science professionals in the US. He started a science-based business with partners. Then he had to sell his work to the business and cash out to meet the additional living expenses of supporting his family, particularly with respect to the medical needs of his kid. Thus, he was unable to reap the benefits of his own innovation. Then he started teaching chemistry at a high school, because it was the best (lawful) job he could find with his skills. When faced with a financial crisis brought on by staggering medical expenses, he decides to turn outlaw. And that is the first step onto the slippery slope. IF patents, trademarks, and copyrights were geared more towards rewarding creators and innovators to a greater extent than the entities that acquire and own the enforcement rights, the tragic drama would not have occurred. IF the health care system were better at managing costs and allocating medical resources, middle class people would not be asked to make the decision between paying more than they could reasonably earn in a lifetime and lying down in the gutter to die. The tragic drama would not have occurred. IF teaching were more prestigious and remunerative as a career, skilled people might choose it first instead of being unhappy with it as their job of last resort. The drama might still have occurred, but WW might have been less of a miserable PoS. And IF people with enough skill to be chemistry teachers ever figured out that they could make more money by synthesizing reasonably-pure legal analogues to prohibited drugs or previously ignored research molecules with recreational drug potential (and instead of cooking methamphetamine), there wouldn't be enough left to teach all the students. Walter could have made designer drugs loosely based on ketamine or MDMA or even out-of-patent drugs first seen in the 1930s that never got a trade name to replace their IUPAC name, and he wouldn't even have to hide it from his DEA in-law. ...Guess he wasn't so smart after all. The point is to not paint brilliant minds into a financial corner, because if you think regular smart folks can be scary with the stuff they do by accident, just wait until they have to do those things all the time, on purpose, for money, out of desperation. A software developer with huge chemo bills could turn black hat. A biologist with huge chemo bills could design a pathogenic weapon for terrorists. A desperate physicist could create a radiation weapon. A rogue mechanical engineer could... uh... build a colossal umbrella to blot out the sun? If there aren't enough fulfilling careers for skilled and disciplined minds within the system, they may turn against it. We already see signs that some such people are being forced to do all of their chemistry with water, milk, and coffee beans. You really don't want too many of them experimenting on the hypothesis that the existing institutional systems are holding them back far more than helping them.
- yummyfajitas 12y ago
  When faced with a financial crisis brought on by staggering medical expenses, he decides to turn outlaw. He was faced with a financial crisis brought on by his family's insistence that he visit an out-of-network doctor.

logfromblammo 12y ago

We can take Walter White as a methaphor (yes, pun intended) for science professionals in the US. He started a science-based business with partners. Then he had to sell his work to the business and cash out to meet the additional living expenses of supporting his family, particularly with respect to the medical needs of his kid. Thus, he was unable to reap the benefits of his own innovation. Then he started teaching chemistry at a high school, because it was the best (lawful) job he could find with his skills. When faced with a financial crisis brought on by staggering medical expenses, he decides to turn outlaw. And that is the first step onto the slippery slope. IF patents, trademarks, and copyrights were geared more towards rewarding creators and innovators to a greater extent than the entities that acquire and own the enforcement rights, the tragic drama would not have occurred. IF the health care system were better at managing costs and allocating medical resources, middle class people would not be asked to make the decision between paying more than they could reasonably earn in a lifetime and lying down in the gutter to die. The tragic drama would not have occurred. IF teaching were more prestigious and remunerative as a career, skilled people might choose it first instead of being unhappy with it as their job of last resort. The drama might still have occurred, but WW might have been less of a miserable PoS. And IF people with enough skill to be chemistry teachers ever figured out that they could make more money by synthesizing reasonably-pure legal analogues to prohibited drugs or previously ignored research molecules with recreational drug potential (and instead of cooking methamphetamine), there wouldn't be enough left to teach all the students. Walter could have made designer drugs loosely based on ketamine or MDMA or even out-of-patent drugs first seen in the 1930s that never got a trade name to replace their IUPAC name, and he wouldn't even have to hide it from his DEA in-law. ...Guess he wasn't so smart after all. The point is to not paint brilliant minds into a financial corner, because if you think regular smart folks can be scary with the stuff they do by accident, just wait until they have to do those things all the time, on purpose, for money, out of desperation. A software developer with huge chemo bills could turn black hat. A biologist with huge chemo bills could design a pathogenic weapon for terrorists. A desperate physicist could create a radiation weapon. A rogue mechanical engineer could... uh... build a colossal umbrella to blot out the sun? If there aren't enough fulfilling careers for skilled and disciplined minds within the system, they may turn against it. We already see signs that some such people are being forced to do all of their chemistry with water, milk, and coffee beans. You really don't want too many of them experimenting on the hypothesis that the existing institutional systems are holding them back far more than helping them.

yummyfajitas 12y ago
When faced with a financial crisis brought on by staggering medical expenses, he decides to turn outlaw. He was faced with a financial crisis brought on by his family's insistence that he visit an out-of-network doctor.