Quote:
Originally Posted by luqmaninbmore
So, in other words, Americans have found a new way to scam the rest of the planet: intellectual "property." You can no longer dominate the world via industrial production, so you (i.e. American capital) plan to dominate it by controlling key "IP" in crucial sectors such as the military, medicine (think of patents used to profit off the suffering of millions in the third world), and communications. Your lifestyle has been subsidized by the blood of countless other people inside and outside of your country, a country founded on the conquest of land from indigenous people, the enslavement of Africans, and the exploitation of its own working class, and loot plundered from abroad. You have no right to speak to anyone of thievery.
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ROTFL, I agree with most of what you said (though not everything), but you're gonna get some major flak here (though maybe you're just trolling and looking for flak
)...
And aren't you American ? I think I have an above-average knowledge of geography but I don't know of any other Baltimore then the one in the US.
EDIT : checked Wikipedia, there are others, mostly also in the US, but none big enough to really matter...
Anyway, the guy who wrote that didn't do the conquest/genocide of natives/African enslavement/exploitation himself so it's a bit unfair to put him in that basket...
Quote:
Originally Posted by elemenoP
My reason is pretty specific: my local library is closed for 2 years for renovations, but they are part of a large system that has a great ebook collection.
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I haven't been to a library in over 10 years, though I visit bookstores often and sometimes buy something. The reason I stopped visiting my closest library is because I hate it when you start reading a series and then can't finish because they don't have the last part, or someone loaned it (the Internet wasn't even around in those days)
Quote:
Originally Posted by elemenoP
I think there is another reason for ereader sales: giving as gifts, to people who may or may not use them in the long term. Just because it's a new and fun gadget.
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Hmmm, didn't think of that. Thanks for contributing one more reason.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Those medicines would not exist if drug companies did not invest billions in research, most of which doesn't work out to anything. Unless companies can make a reasonable return on investment from those few drugs that do work, the research won't happen at all.
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Reasonable return is just one of the possible steps :
1. working pro-bono, volunteering, charity, where you spend time and effort for nothing
2. working non-profit, where you make just enough for your expenses
3. working with a reasonable profit, enough for you to earn for a decent living and not rip off your customers, sometimes even doing something usefull for society that's not directly profitable
4. working for as much profit as you possibly can without hurting anyone, taking as much money from people as you can get away with even if you're disgustingly rich and don't need anymore
5. working for as much profit as you possibly can INCLUDING hurting other people if it suits you and increases your profits
Now most companies are in the 4th category for obvious reasons, while oil companies and weapons manufacturers are definitely in the 5th, and drug companies could be in 3-5, depending on the company and their behaviour (but mostly 4 I'd say).