Unfortunately the culture of "If you're so smart, how come I'm boss and you're not?" is very much a reflection of a simple concept:
Authority.
As far as you are concerned, It doesn't even matter who is smarter, or who is more insightful. What matters is who is in charge.
A company hell bent on censoring the opinions of its employees may well strike an iceberg and sink, and would probably deserve it.
If you are a peon without a voice however, your best option in that case is to hop in a lifeboat and find another ship. If you pick a fight with your boss, it doesn't matter if you're smarter. You'll still drown first when you walk the plank for attempted mutiny. Relatedly, your career will still take a hit if you get a pink slip for insubordination before the company goes bankrupt.
My point was that a group of sovereign nations acts at an international level very much how an anarchy of playground kids act individually.
Nations scratch and stab each other's backs, make threats of war, duke out, spy, and all that just like people do on an individual basis if nobody is watching them.
Nations act just like people do, and unlike society, nations do not have anyone babysitting them to make them behave themselves. It is survival of the fittest where being nasty and getting away with it is a good move.
A car that is in good working order is still going to crash if it has a bad driver.
Similiarly, if you get a jury foreman who lies through his teeth just to get a chance to get even with the defendant, you are going to have problems.
There are decisions that can only be made by people, and people are also good at manipulating things. That is why no system will ever be perfect as long as people are involved.
I don't trust studies if someone other than the person conducting them has the right to deny permission to report them.
Someone having the ability to selectively censor your experiments from being published has the power to bias the experiment by putting otherwise objective data through a subjective filter.
Just because it is foolish to throw stones while in a glass house doesn't necessarily bring honor to the one who built that house, or the one that put you in it.
Biting the hand that feeds you is foolish, but it doesn't prove the hand is honorable.
I'm pretty sure that China would not mind punishing US citizens for insulting the chairman anymore than the United States would not mind busting Chinese citizens for patent and copyright infringement.
An interesting position that I completely agree with.
Genome sequences are creative and belong under copyright if anything. And copyright is nice in that independent derivation is permissible, unlike with patents.
99 percent of the general public not understanding things is not entirely the fault of the general public.
When things are deliberately obfuscated and twisted to favor the elite, you can't fairly blame Joe Sixpack for not understanding things.
Being vigilant is a good thing but unless you are omniscient you cannot expect to win against an enemy that owns the playing field and has bought off the referees.
The real infringer then would appear to be whoever sold the commodity seed to the farmer, as well as anyone between him and Monsanto in the supply chain that did not comply with their own license, if any.
He is in for a huge fight indeed. By taking it to the supremes he has galvanized the elite into scrambling to save their gravy train from being derailed.
More companies than just Monsanto are going to fight this tooth and nail because they have a lot to lose if the supremes rule in the farmer's favor.
It's sad that we're only the guinea pigs because Monsanto got a monopoly and is shoving the alternatives off the menu.
So our only choice in many cases is to eat Monsanto crap or eat nothing at all.
Monsanto backed us into a corner and not many of us are willing to starve to death to prove a point.
Sure, people who cornered the water market in the dry days of the wild west eventually saw their empires topple, in the interim many people paid dearly for to avoid losing something even more valuable.
Like with extortion by the MAFIAA, we only cave to the little things to avoid suffering the big things. The evil is on them for holding the big things hostage in the first place.
The elite have a lot at stake and aren't going to let the supremes derail their gravy train.
This will be a lesson to all under the grindstone not to trifle with the will of their betters. Got nailed with a federal precedent? Should have kept your mouth shut and left well enough alone instead of stirring up an even bigger hornet's nest.
I'm jaded due to experience, but still hopeful that I'm wrong.
There is something called the stripping doctrine whereby someone acting outside the scope of their authority is effectively disqualified from using the cloak of sovereign immunity to cover himself.
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MAC addresses can be changed.
Unfortunately the culture of "If you're so smart, how come I'm boss and you're not?" is very much a reflection of a simple concept:
Authority.
As far as you are concerned, It doesn't even matter who is smarter, or who is more insightful. What matters is who is in charge.
A company hell bent on censoring the opinions of its employees may well strike an iceberg and sink, and would probably deserve it.
If you are a peon without a voice however, your best option in that case is to hop in a lifeboat and find another ship. If you pick a fight with your boss, it doesn't matter if you're smarter. You'll still drown first when you walk the plank for attempted mutiny. Relatedly, your career will still take a hit if you get a pink slip for insubordination before the company goes bankrupt.
I prefer to call it Hassle.
My point was that a group of sovereign nations acts at an international level very much how an anarchy of playground kids act individually.
Nations scratch and stab each other's backs, make threats of war, duke out, spy, and all that just like people do on an individual basis if nobody is watching them.
Nations act just like people do, and unlike society, nations do not have anyone babysitting them to make them behave themselves. It is survival of the fittest where being nasty and getting away with it is a good move.
A car that is in good working order is still going to crash if it has a bad driver.
Similiarly, if you get a jury foreman who lies through his teeth just to get a chance to get even with the defendant, you are going to have problems.
There are decisions that can only be made by people, and people are also good at manipulating things. That is why no system will ever be perfect as long as people are involved.
Why should the judge get to allow his personal feelings and emotions to decide what is or is not allowed in the room he presides over?
I don't trust studies if someone other than the person conducting them has the right to deny permission to report them.
Someone having the ability to selectively censor your experiments from being published has the power to bias the experiment by putting otherwise objective data through a subjective filter.
Just because it is foolish to throw stones while in a glass house doesn't necessarily bring honor to the one who built that house, or the one that put you in it.
Biting the hand that feeds you is foolish, but it doesn't prove the hand is honorable.
Interesting that sovereign nations are not really any more civilized with each other than savages in the jungle are.
Not that China would care anyhow not to do it anyway, but sinking to their level would only justify them.
I'm pretty sure that China would not mind punishing US citizens for insulting the chairman anymore than the United States would not mind busting Chinese citizens for patent and copyright infringement.
An interesting position that I completely agree with.
Genome sequences are creative and belong under copyright if anything. And copyright is nice in that independent derivation is permissible, unlike with patents.
99 percent of the general public not understanding things is not entirely the fault of the general public.
When things are deliberately obfuscated and twisted to favor the elite, you can't fairly blame Joe Sixpack for not understanding things.
Being vigilant is a good thing but unless you are omniscient you cannot expect to win against an enemy that owns the playing field and has bought off the referees.
Monsanto will be happy with anything that goes in their favor, and against anything adverse to their interests.
They don't care if it's morally right, or legally right, or anything.
They want to have their cake and eat it too, and if they can save more by having someone else cut the cake for them, so much the better.
That of our congress critters for kissing Monsanto's ass and passing the stupid laws in the first place.
Unfortunately patents and copyrights are two different things.
Also, buying music and planting seeds are different because seeds reproduce.
However, they do so naturally.
The real infringer then would appear to be whoever sold the commodity seed to the farmer, as well as anyone between him and Monsanto in the supply chain that did not comply with their own license, if any.
He is in for a huge fight indeed. By taking it to the supremes he has galvanized the elite into scrambling to save their gravy train from being derailed.
More companies than just Monsanto are going to fight this tooth and nail because they have a lot to lose if the supremes rule in the farmer's favor.
The elite will see this as an act of war.
It's sad that we're only the guinea pigs because Monsanto got a monopoly and is shoving the alternatives off the menu.
So our only choice in many cases is to eat Monsanto crap or eat nothing at all.
Monsanto backed us into a corner and not many of us are willing to starve to death to prove a point.
Sure, people who cornered the water market in the dry days of the wild west eventually saw their empires topple, in the interim many people paid dearly for to avoid losing something even more valuable.
Like with extortion by the MAFIAA, we only cave to the little things to avoid suffering the big things. The evil is on them for holding the big things hostage in the first place.
The FDA's only involvement is in looking the other way after being paid off.
As for damages, Monsanto most likely will be off the hook because it was their client, and not Monsanto directly, that let the seeds loose.
And unfortunately as brain dead as the legal system is he will probably still be held liable for patent infringement.
GMO patents will be upheld.
The elite have a lot at stake and aren't going to let the supremes derail their gravy train.
This will be a lesson to all under the grindstone not to trifle with the will of their betters. Got nailed with a federal precedent? Should have kept your mouth shut and left well enough alone instead of stirring up an even bigger hornet's nest.
I'm jaded due to experience, but still hopeful that I'm wrong.
And in any sane world God would be able to claim prior art.
The point of the wikipedia blackout was to raise awareness.
A blown lightbulb may well get your attention better than a boring billboard.
There is something called the stripping doctrine whereby someone acting outside the scope of their authority is effectively disqualified from using the cloak of sovereign immunity to cover himself.
Jaywalking is seen as low priority.
Spammers are hard to catch because they are evasive and often make use of stolen computer time to hide their tracks.
Insider trading is privileged and people are paid off to look the other way.