During quarantine, I have been taking the time to catch up on my leftist reading list, and I am currently reading The Conquest of Bread by Pyotr Kropotkin. It poses some extremely interesting theories, like that because technology is reliant on the innovations before it, all technology, tools, and innovations belong to the human race collectively, which is completely different from our current system. This theory renders things like patents, and intellectual property illegitimate. One thing I often hear “capitalists” argue is that competition is strictly beneficial, and open competition will drive society forward. If this is so, then why do they defend such anti-competitive measures like patents? Is it because true competition lessens profit, thus lessening the drive for innovation under a capitalist mode? Why do we protect inventions with patents? Would they not deter further innovation based on a product, especially by small inventors who can't afford the rights? This commodification of innovation forces creatives towards powerful companies with lots of money who can afford the patent rights, or even own the patents. Innovation is an innately driven concept, and will happen regardless of profit motive, though material compensation does boost innovation, making a better society does too. The Space Race was driven by public research on both sides, not market competition.
I am going to continue reading and share my thoughts on what I read. I also plan to rewatch Noam Chomsky's talk "Manufacturing Consent" as it covers a lot about mass media's effect on society.
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