That's the extreme end of the spectrum; a similar issue that is less obvious is whether the sale of human organs should be legal. Some claim that a legitimate market for organs would result in more saved lives, and less black-market violence; on the other hand, there is obvious potential for dehumanization and perverse incentives, to say the least.
> So we might as well have phones that can run free software too. Not everything is about "business opportunities"; human rights come first.
I agree with this on paper, but on a long timeline, human rights are best served by technological progress, which tends to be accelerated through well-balanced profit motives. (Note that this may or may not involve greed; sometimes a profit motive is simply "now I can afford to pay the 500 people needed to get this thing off the ground".)
All told, I agree with you; I'm deeply frustrated that democratic socialism is so thoroughly demonized in the US, and that corporate profits come first, with human rights as a distant second (or worse). But humans trading with one another has been an incredibly potent wealth generation machine, usually benefitting even the very poor. And trade cannot happen without ownership. I want Star Trek Communism as much as anybody, but we're not there yet.
> So we might as well have phones that can run free software too. Not everything is about "business opportunities"; human rights come first.
I agree with this on paper, but on a long timeline, human rights are best served by technological progress, which tends to be accelerated through well-balanced profit motives. (Note that this may or may not involve greed; sometimes a profit motive is simply "now I can afford to pay the 500 people needed to get this thing off the ground".)
All told, I agree with you; I'm deeply frustrated that democratic socialism is so thoroughly demonized in the US, and that corporate profits come first, with human rights as a distant second (or worse). But humans trading with one another has been an incredibly potent wealth generation machine, usually benefitting even the very poor. And trade cannot happen without ownership. I want Star Trek Communism as much as anybody, but we're not there yet.