everything is a remix

A fair proportion of the discussion about theremin design here circles around issues of invention, originality and intellectual property rights.

This half hour documentary gives an interesting perspective on such issues.

http://youtu.be/coGpmA4saEk

There are lots of debates about "who was first" to come up with something. 

Who "invented" the moving pictures? Thomas Edison or the Lumière brothers? They both worked on the same technologies at the same time and came up with something similar. 

Thanks GordonC, really worth watching.  Though I must say I hate Disney even more as a result (watch Consuming Kids for another source of Disney et al ire).  I hadn't thought that deeply regarding the psychology of copier vs. copied, though it seems generally true that winners move on and losers never forget.

Intellectual property is one of my main bug bears - there's very little new under the sun, we all owe a huge debt to the creative souls who came before us, secrecy and ownership of ideas impede forward movement, etc.  I blame corporations and their enablers for steamrollering over our lives with this nonsense.

That people don't even question corporate rights when little johnny is looking at a million dollar court case for downloading an MP3, that they've forgotten the deeply altruistic and practical origins of patent and copyright law, makes me despair.  Laws have to make sense, otherwise people won't naturally obey them. 

At the rate we're going we're going to end up with one guy owning the whole world.

Haven't you ever played MONOPOLY? That's how the game always ends. Someone ends up owning Boardwalk and Park Place, and everyone else is either in debt, in jail, or ruined.

The really interesting part of the game is when someone grabs the MONOPOLY board in frustration and throws it across the room, or simply doesn't want to play anymore.

We're gettin' there!

"The really interesting part of the game is when someone grabs the MONOPOLY board in frustration and throws it across the room, or simply doesn't want to play anymore." - Coalport

IMO, Thats a great analogy!  As for "We're gettin' there!" I think (know?) that eventually we must get "there" - No empire lasts forever, and game cannot continue forever without change - But, I suppose if you are playing MONOPOLY with a load of cheats who are beefy club-wielding thugs, one is less inclined to throw the board across the room..

I think a load of people "dont want to play anymore" - but how do you stop "playing" when one is say a responsible individual with children, who fears for their well being in the now ? 

And we can see what the "winners" are doing - They are testing how far things can be pushed.. When they see a point at which they cannot extract more blood from their important victims, they will back off just enough to avoid revolution, and with the muscle they have, things really need to be bad before people will risk action.

Most of the worlds population (including many in the developed nations) are held in this limbo state - things are nearly bad enough for enough people to be motivated to take "dangerous" action which could force change - but for most, its not yet bad enough.

Added ->

If "they" are foolish enough (or miscalculate) and push things too far, and make things bad enough for "most" - Then perhaps there could be enough revolution to change things - "they" need "us" more than "we" need "them"- the 99% could manage without the 1%, but the 1% depend on the 99% playing their game - Trouble is that the game will continue, just go to a different level - A level with its own horrors, and a level which will, I fear, given time return to MONOPOLY anyway, with little gained for the masses - Perhaps there will be new bosses running the game.

So what does one do ?

Cynical? Yes - Having been involved in changing "the game" in South Africa, I now see the new bosses playing MONOPOLY and the new dogs shooting miners - what hasnt changed is the lot of the exploited - they are still exploited - The real change the war was (supposed to be) about never happened.. The only thing the exploited have now which they never had before is the illusion that they are free - its something, but IMO not enough.

Fred.

Coalport wrote: "The really interesting part of the game is when someone grabs the MONOPOLY board in frustration and throws it across the room, or simply doesn't want to play anymore."

For me it is today.

"Haven't you ever played MONOPOLY?"  - coalport

It certainly lets one see behind the curtain re. how capitalism really "works".  I'm kind of surprised it's such a common kids game for that reason alone.

We are a race of slavers and slaves.  Exploitation "R" Us.

"We are a race of slavers and slaves.  Exploitation "R" Us." - Dewster

I think that some of our species, in time past, were not that way - There were races and societies which worked cooperatively for mutual benefit, only acquired what they needed, and had no concept of personal possession or "ownership".

These groups were eradicated by the exploiters who had a different paradym - a bit like what happens if you put chimps and bonobo's together.

And I think that, as we all descended from common ancestors, the genes 'biasing' towards the cooperative paradym are probably there in most of us - But sadly, not strong enough to overcome the influence of our society and our memes.. I think there have been attempts to make the fundamental paradym shift - Communism and the works of Marx and Engels could have established a new order and new memes could have replaced the exploititative ones.. But the forces acting against this idea, and the way this idea was corrupted by those who regarded themselves as "more equal than others" doomed it to defeat.

But right down at the core, the old memes are repeated .. "Rule Britania .. Britons never shall be slaves" rather than "Britons never shall take slaves".

Fred.

"It certainly lets one see behind the curtain re. how capitalism really "works". " - Dewster

IMO, it is not really a game which shows "how capitalism really "works". " - It shows how the extreme form of capitalism "works" - This form doesnt work - when nobody has money, they are out of the game - there is no one left to land on the properties and pay any money to its owner, and the game ends.

I am no advocate of capitalism - But it can, I think, work if not excessive.. I think there is a genetic / memetic "drive" which causes people to want / be willing to improve their lives even at the expense of others. If opertunity is available, at least to the majority, for "fair" competition, this seems to drive an engine which benefits everyone (or most).. Its only when there are no ethics or morality governing  the accumulation of wealth versus the effect on others that things really break down.

this is just Dreaming out loud... I know there are major flaws and it is "nonsence" at face value - But if all individual earnings above say $5M a year were taxed at 100%, this fund could eliminate all poverty on the planet, provide free universal health care and education, and more..

I would go for a model which had a capitalist basis, but with a income cieling of perhaps $1M/PA, the money from the "clipping" level going on universal betterment - Everyone starts with enough for a good basic standard of living (essentials - shelter, clothes, nutrients, primary health care, access to legal defense and recourse to law, basic equality without discrimination,  education - this starting level being funded by capping the aquisitions any individual can hold (say $50M) and redistributing the confiscated wealth / property / whatever or placing it in common ownership), and can improve their financial situation hugely through their efforts - a limit of $1M/ £500k per year should be enough to keep anyone financially secure and materially happy! - there are people "earning" $6M a day! - this is pure obscenity when children die every day for lack of clean water which a fraction of this excess would eradicate!

What would motivate people to work if their essentials were provided? The biggest motivators of all - a sense of purpose, something to do, etc.. But the highest paying jobs would (as they should be) probably be the dirty jobs - sewage workers, miners, those willing to do unpleasant jobs for money even if they dont need to do the job to survive.... Lowest paid jobs would probably be the kind of job I do - Interesting, clean, safe..

The way the game has been played in the last few decades has been excessive - Capitalism is failing (or at least this form is) because individuals have accumulated so much capital that a fair game aint possible.. And capital itself becomes worthless if it is unable to move.. And even if the "winners" "owned" everything on the planet, if people dont have capital, they cannot rent a home from the "winners" so its a lose-lose. There is only a certain level of slavery people will tolerate before they revolt.

The MONOPOLY game is close to its end, I think - The question for me is "What comes next?"... Particularly as this time the game is global.

Fred..

So are north & south Korea just going to flip a coin?

But to the music rip-off. I stand here right now and admit "I love Led Zeppelin music". Have done since a teenager. Yes, heavily influenced blues but still sounds great years on. Yes, they should have acknowledged the great blues artists. I had this conversation years ago with Chrissie Perfect at one of her birthday get togethers at her home, Quaves' in Kent, UK and with Pattie Boyd sat the other side of me. Boy, did I feel privileged!!!

Christine said ALL groups borrowed from others. Some get lucky and have great hits; others don't. She said her group had borrowed but disguised stuff then it takes on a life of its own and they then 'own' it until it get 'borrowed' again. Pattie said George and Eric often started 'noodling' a piece on guitar and end up playing other peoples stuff with a seemless drop-in.

Chrissie who? Sorry; AKA Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac