Comments by "roidroid" (@roidroid) on "Alex Tabarrok on how ideas trump crises" video.

  1. yes these corporations leverage intellectual-property against the medical well-being of people. Surely there is a better way, that encourages proliferation of information (and medicines) instead of scarcity. Capitalism (in particular: monopoly) relies on scarcity. Cannot we work towards a post-scarcity world instead?
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  2. i suppose we-the-people could call for the weakening of intellectual property laws. also, we could encourage/support technological efforts or products that empower the individual or society as a whole, and discourage scarcity. Self-assembler projects such as RepRap and Fab@Home seem interesting. It's essentially an automated factory that can build (among other things) other factories, thereby making factories and the products they produce incredibly prolific. As free as the air we breathe.
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  3. No violence? Don't confuse Economic Libertarianism with Social Libertarianism. Neocons latch onto whoever will give them the reins. It just so happened to be Social Conservatives, a typically Authoritarian ideology that quite happily utilises violence. The modern Republican party is Biggoted Social Conservatism, married with NeoCon Economic Libertarianism. Conservatives want war, and the NeoCons want the War Profits: Its a warmonger marriage made in heaven. No Violence my ass.
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  4. yeah coz NATURAL carcinogens don't exist amitie? lol
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  5. Free markets only work when information is also free (ie: never). But Capitalism creates industries dedicated to keeping consumers AWAY from the information they need. Industries such as Marketing and Public Relations. Which ultimately concentrates power in the hands of the few elite, and the system never works fairly. The ideology of Free-Market-Fundamentalism was destroyed by Joseph Stiglitz with his 2001 Nobel Prize winning work highlighting "Information Asymmetry" in free markets.
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  6. don't taze me bro
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  7. And yet - the linkages i pointed out between Economic Libertarianism and Violence, are patently obvious to all. War is one of the most profitable institutions around. The free market loves it. In the socio/ethical void of Economic Libertarianism - violence thrives. The 2005 movie "Lord of War" was an easily digestible pop-culture illustration of the link between Economic Libertarianism and Violence.
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  8. Jasonlajoie, how you can expect people to voluntarily restrict themselves - in ways that YOU YOURSELF have clearly chosen not to: You are using a computer! Shouldn't you be in a grass hut somewhere - enjoying your GLORIOUS death from Malaria? What kindof life do you recommend? note: although i am disagreeing with you, i am not a free market fundamentalist, i'm more a futurist. Technology has trumpted incomming disaster plenty of times before (example: Green Revolution), why not again?
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  9. "ECONOMIC liberal" i think you mean. meaning free-market capitalism. When American television talks about "Liberals", they generally mean SOCIAL Liberals. Meaning a society with more social freedoms. It is very important people understand this. The Republican party is a marriage between Social Conservatism and Economic Libertarianism. When you talk about Liberals - you must be specific as to what you mean. Because technically the Republican Party is full of Liberals (of a certain type).
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  10. Like a typical NeoCon - this guy refuses to acknowledge the problems of free-trade (not fair-trade) globalisation, such as the devaluation of labour and thus decrease in worker's wages, rights, and powers. If i wanted to listen to delusional self-congratulatory NeoCons i'd just tune into Fox news. Still - i have learned to appreciate their optimism. And he wins points for momentarily mentioning futurist Raymond Kurzweil at 10:45
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  11. Economic Libertarian Thesedays we call them NeoCons.
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  12. The VAST majority of drug development is done by universities, drug companies then pick and choose what patents they will purchase FROM the universities. But universities do research based on what is most promicing and useful, not on what will "sell". If anything, drug companies actually make things worse for everyone by lobbying for DECREASED regulation (more quacks and snakeoil salesmen) and INCREASED intelectual property rights (increasing monopoly and encouraging scarcity based economies)
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  13. Microeconomics? what about Information Asymmetry?
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