Comment on Iron
jsomae@lemmy.ml 3 weeks agoWell, the current situation in the U.S. is pretty bad. But I’m happier that at least some people are able to get, say, insulin for their diabetes, than that nobody can. I would of course greatly prefer free or at least cheap access to insulin for all, but I would not press a magic button to remove insulin entirely in order to screw over big pharma. I know someone with diabetes – how could I say their life is not worth the cost to society that comes capitalists exploiting a monopoly on insulin?
Similarly, in the future, I hope to be able to say that in expectation somebody I know would have had down syndrome had it not been prevented by (the non-evil kind of) eugenics programs such as polygenics.
Jiggle_Physics@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
So where is the threshold? Also, you are talking to someone who is likely to die from the government’s recent bill stopping the supply of medicine, and other treatment, I will need. This is the result of private ownership of the medicines, and machines, needed to deal with this, and their power to affect the government. So I am currently in the situation I propose will happen, in a much larger manner, in the future as these technologies develop, and society becomes more intertwined with it. So, where is the threshold were we stop this, and change our laws on owning ideas? I propose that we crossed it some time ago, and this shift into IP law is long over due. I would rather get this done earlier, rather than later, because the only thing that will happen is this dependency will grow. Your appeal to emotion with your anecdote about your diabetic will only worsen the type of situation I find myself in, as society becomes more dependent on the tech. The longer we wait the more catastrophic it will become due to pussy-footing around, and kicking the can down the road, as people don’t want to make hard decisions.
jsomae@lemmy.ml 3 weeks ago
We should already change our laws on ownership. I’m not sure how it’s possible that I’m saying “we should improve healthcare and also change IP laws” and you’re hearing me say “IP laws are good the way they are.” The U.S. is past the threshold already.
Jiggle_Physics@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
No, that is not what I am hearing, I am hearing “we should change IP law, but not if it interrupts development/production of medical tech”
jsomae@lemmy.ml 3 weeks ago
I didn’t say that at all. I never said those were mutually exclusive. You are the one who came along and asserted that medical advancements could only be made under current IP law.