[Meta] Re: [Patents] <no object>

[Bernard Lang <Bernard.Lang@inria.fr> (Bernard Lang)]

On Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 08:53:50AM +0200, PILCH Hartmut wrote:
> On Thu, 16 Aug 2001, Gregory Aharonian wrote:
> 
> > John writes about Bernard´s politics:
> > >Bernard´s reply sought to poke a pin in Greg´s balloon.
> >
> > Which is no excuse for these irrelevant political analogies.
> > Does American politics have a problem?  Sure.  But does the politics
> > of Bernard´s France have its problem?  Yes, as well.  Does the politics
> > of Hartmut´s Germany have its problem?  Yes, as well.  So it is much
> > better manners to avoid these self-cancelling political references
> > because they add no value.  And I would say this, even if I wasn´t
> > Algerian or Turkish (which is a cheap shot attack).
> 
> Indeed, because relations with Turkish or Algerian immigrants are domestic
> problems.
> You would have to try talking about something international, e.g. Kosovo.
> The swpat questions has some international aspects, such as TRIPS, which
> you like to cite, and from which this whole discussion started.
> Also, the US government has pressed countries like Jordania to allow
> patenting of abstract and mathematical methods.
> It is a wide felt impression that the US government is even more
> thouroughly than some other governments in the hands of what Chomsky
> called "private tyrannies".  RMS often speaks about "the American big
> corporations and their servant, the US government".
> Many people fear that this tendency has been aggravated by the election
> (?) of George W. Bush.
> 
> All this is not irrelevant to the discussion, but also not directly
> relevant and in most cases only a way of de-focussing.
> 
  your mistake, classical for intellectuals like you Hartmut, is to
stick too much to the technical aspect (though not when quoting
Chomsky).  This is essentially political.  It is Corporations vs
People.  The only role played by the USA is that they already made
their choice against the people, and are therefore the best tool to
carry out the corporate will and policies.  Rational analysis, which
you often do, may be our only weapon.  But it is a weak one.

  Reminds me of a classical view of Gods ... their power comes from
the belief of the worshippers.  This is actually true also for
corporations.  We make them exist ... and they may destroy us (I do
not mean necessarily physically).  All that is needed is to stop
believing.

Bernard

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