Legacy
WOW, so, politics in Louisiana is comic. NO ONE saw William Jefferson getting voted out this election. Certainly not in favor of (1) a Republican, (2) the first Vietnamese member of the House of Representatives. I mean, first Jindal, now this guy! Amazing!
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-12-07-noelection_N.htm?csp=34
That said, I can move on now from politics back to issues global. The inevitable, since change is inevitable, progress progresses. The root of all issues in life is source, and rights, that is, does creation mean proprietary rights? O.K., say there is no nation-state to enforce rights and responsibilities - ideas, realities, materials, are all out there to be explored, tinkered, and refined by humanity. So, in a very real sense, life is open-source.
Proprietary rights can best be protected by the capitalist system, which it seems is best equipped to then reward innovators, spurring innovation. Or not, necessity being the mother of invention, I'm sure inventors under other systems can achieve just as much, but the incentives under capitalism certainly sweeten the pie. Proprietary rights mean that the first to get there get the lion's share, but, 2nd place often allows for the further refining of the technology, and could allow the result to supplant the first finisher. Proprietary rights are usually secured by those with the means of production (either through R&D or buying the rights from the source).
Begging the question, when life seems so open source, what with analogies from the world of ideas, as well as nature itself - pollination, reproduction, dispersal of code everywhere - why have humans hoarded knowledge? Maybe that states it too harshly, the academie, the university, the college, are more or less open sources. It is strange that in the Christian/post-Christian industrialized countries where there is the knowledge of a personal God, one incarnate, knowable, immanent and transcendent, an open-source if you will, would not have inspired a more cooperative principle. Vatican and the Roman Pontiff have been replaced by the corporation and the nation-state.
Ironically, my impression is that Islam is philosophically more compatible with open-source models. Perhaps because the God in Islam is transcendent, unknowable, this is possible, idunno. Have to look into this.
Let's take an example, IGFarben... Patented dyes, became rich, bought an interest in makers of Zyklon B a pesticide which Fritz Haber discovered, incidentally killing millions of Jews. Eventually Haber process allowed fixing of Nitrogen from atmosphere, leading to fertilizers, which gave life and health to millions, also part of the war machine - explosives, killing millions. The patented dyes gave rise to the first anti-biotic an azo-dye, also giving life and health to millions.
A Malthusian spiral ensues, where food and population compete for land and resources. Meanwhile, overuse of nitrogen fertilizers causes other problems for the soil. Nevertheless creative humans found a use for these in the production of meth-amphetamines, bringing death to yet unknown numbers. Incidentally, it looks like it might have been used by Hitler himself, having been produced under the name Pervitin.
These inventions had unintended consequences, and the karmic circle is complete, with both life and death being in the nitrogen molecule. Life and death also being in the hand of the nation-state by means of the corporation. Regulation is also part of the nation-state's role over nature and its refined products. For your amusement, as I've been embracing transhumanism, this story dovetails nicely into my previous blogs.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081207/ap_on_he_me/med_brain_pills
Oh, and by the way, 12/5 was the 75th anniversary of the repeal of prohibition, a toast:
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/12/violet_teen_booked_with_double.html
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-12-07-noelection_N.htm?csp=34
That said, I can move on now from politics back to issues global. The inevitable, since change is inevitable, progress progresses. The root of all issues in life is source, and rights, that is, does creation mean proprietary rights? O.K., say there is no nation-state to enforce rights and responsibilities - ideas, realities, materials, are all out there to be explored, tinkered, and refined by humanity. So, in a very real sense, life is open-source.
Proprietary rights can best be protected by the capitalist system, which it seems is best equipped to then reward innovators, spurring innovation. Or not, necessity being the mother of invention, I'm sure inventors under other systems can achieve just as much, but the incentives under capitalism certainly sweeten the pie. Proprietary rights mean that the first to get there get the lion's share, but, 2nd place often allows for the further refining of the technology, and could allow the result to supplant the first finisher. Proprietary rights are usually secured by those with the means of production (either through R&D or buying the rights from the source).
Begging the question, when life seems so open source, what with analogies from the world of ideas, as well as nature itself - pollination, reproduction, dispersal of code everywhere - why have humans hoarded knowledge? Maybe that states it too harshly, the academie, the university, the college, are more or less open sources. It is strange that in the Christian/post-Christian industrialized countries where there is the knowledge of a personal God, one incarnate, knowable, immanent and transcendent, an open-source if you will, would not have inspired a more cooperative principle. Vatican and the Roman Pontiff have been replaced by the corporation and the nation-state.
Ironically, my impression is that Islam is philosophically more compatible with open-source models. Perhaps because the God in Islam is transcendent, unknowable, this is possible, idunno. Have to look into this.
Let's take an example, IGFarben... Patented dyes, became rich, bought an interest in makers of Zyklon B a pesticide which Fritz Haber discovered, incidentally killing millions of Jews. Eventually Haber process allowed fixing of Nitrogen from atmosphere, leading to fertilizers, which gave life and health to millions, also part of the war machine - explosives, killing millions. The patented dyes gave rise to the first anti-biotic an azo-dye, also giving life and health to millions.
A Malthusian spiral ensues, where food and population compete for land and resources. Meanwhile, overuse of nitrogen fertilizers causes other problems for the soil. Nevertheless creative humans found a use for these in the production of meth-amphetamines, bringing death to yet unknown numbers. Incidentally, it looks like it might have been used by Hitler himself, having been produced under the name Pervitin.
These inventions had unintended consequences, and the karmic circle is complete, with both life and death being in the nitrogen molecule. Life and death also being in the hand of the nation-state by means of the corporation. Regulation is also part of the nation-state's role over nature and its refined products. For your amusement, as I've been embracing transhumanism, this story dovetails nicely into my previous blogs.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081207/ap_on_he_me/med_brain_pills
Oh, and by the way, 12/5 was the 75th anniversary of the repeal of prohibition, a toast:
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/12/violet_teen_booked_with_double.html