Ahem

That was health insurance. Different beast.

Not excusing pharma, but that bit of extreme casting doesn’t really belong in the conversation.

Like most things in life, “It Depends” is probably applicable, here. Copyright, patents, and trademark exist for a reason.

Abuse of these structures, is the real issue.

Like people that argue for unfettered capitalism, or total legalization of all vice, we need to think about basic human nature, when discussing these things. That doesn’t happen, usually. It’s either all or nothing. We don’t consider that moderation, and benevolent structure, are possible (which they might not always be, considering human nature).

The hard part is imposing just enough structure to ensure that we get maximum effect.

About a month ago, there was a post about the “Pareto Front,” that point at which maximum desired effect is achieved, with optimal resource usage, and side effects. The zenith.

That can also apply to social infrastructure, but it’s really, really difficult, and lawyers and social scientists don’t think that way.

I honestly feel as if very few people take basic human nature into account, when designing pretty much anything.