It's digital so it's free to replicate
Apr. 21st, 2010 08:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sathorThat's the benefit of digital media, you know. There's no such thing as supply. Every individual that has a copy of a particular piece of data becomes an effective supplier. To keep the data intact, and to keep producing it only costs an incredibly small amount of actual resources.
Going back to basic theory, some stuff I remember getting touched on by Marx and a few others, the only /wealth/ that is actually created is something physical, tangible that is brought out of the earth or produced via using the earth. All things are contingent on this wealth, however - the artist is a human being who has consumed countless pounds of food and natural resources in his or her lifetime. Their tools are produced from the earth. All other individuals are the same as that artist, regardless of job.
The difference is that an individual who actually plays a role in the creation of new wealth is the only one paying off their debt - so to speak - to society. Everyone else is merely taking from those who create that new wealth. For human beings to have their basic needs met they need food, water and shelter. So those who play a role in the production of these things are absolutely the most important people on the planet by definition. Nothing else would be possible without them. They have the most merit, but they are most certainly not the most economically advantaged. This is a problem. These people are reliant on the individuals who produce their tools, research and develop new technologies that they utilize to better and more efficiently perform their job - and thus this particular sector of science is equally valuable.
The individuals who distribute these things to people, as well as actually construct, repair and upkeep places of living are with the most merit after the former.
After them, the individuals who provide services that increase life expectancy, reduce suffering, increase happiness and increase the amount of time that people are actually "free" to do as they wish are the most important - doctors, pharmacologists, producers of recreational drugs, producers of entertainment (games, movies, books, religion, etc.), engineers, researchers, scientists, technicians all fall into this category. They have a great deal of merit but they are most certainly not as important as those who distribute, and not as important as those who provide the basic requirements for a persistence of the material body. The person who crafts the tools necessary for eating or drinking easily is, for example, within this category as well. Because if there were no people who performed that particular job, everyone else would have less time as they'd have to produce these tools for themselves. Additionally, I think one will find that especially jobs of propriety - such as ownership and renting of land, space for profit - are merely plagues on our societal system, taking a great deal of wealth from those who actually produced something. If I survive merely by my acquisition either through family ties, friendship ties, or even by prior engagement in a useful activity through the purchase and later renting out of space, I am no longer playing a role of usefulness in society. A person does not need a gatekeeper to a place to rest their head, and you do not deserve to gain materially by passing your burdens onto another.
Going back to basic theory, some stuff I remember getting touched on by Marx and a few others, the only /wealth/ that is actually created is something physical, tangible that is brought out of the earth or produced via using the earth. All things are contingent on this wealth, however - the artist is a human being who has consumed countless pounds of food and natural resources in his or her lifetime. Their tools are produced from the earth. All other individuals are the same as that artist, regardless of job.
The difference is that an individual who actually plays a role in the creation of new wealth is the only one paying off their debt - so to speak - to society. Everyone else is merely taking from those who create that new wealth. For human beings to have their basic needs met they need food, water and shelter. So those who play a role in the production of these things are absolutely the most important people on the planet by definition. Nothing else would be possible without them. They have the most merit, but they are most certainly not the most economically advantaged. This is a problem. These people are reliant on the individuals who produce their tools, research and develop new technologies that they utilize to better and more efficiently perform their job - and thus this particular sector of science is equally valuable.
The individuals who distribute these things to people, as well as actually construct, repair and upkeep places of living are with the most merit after the former.
After them, the individuals who provide services that increase life expectancy, reduce suffering, increase happiness and increase the amount of time that people are actually "free" to do as they wish are the most important - doctors, pharmacologists, producers of recreational drugs, producers of entertainment (games, movies, books, religion, etc.), engineers, researchers, scientists, technicians all fall into this category. They have a great deal of merit but they are most certainly not as important as those who distribute, and not as important as those who provide the basic requirements for a persistence of the material body. The person who crafts the tools necessary for eating or drinking easily is, for example, within this category as well. Because if there were no people who performed that particular job, everyone else would have less time as they'd have to produce these tools for themselves. Additionally, I think one will find that especially jobs of propriety - such as ownership and renting of land, space for profit - are merely plagues on our societal system, taking a great deal of wealth from those who actually produced something. If I survive merely by my acquisition either through family ties, friendship ties, or even by prior engagement in a useful activity through the purchase and later renting out of space, I am no longer playing a role of usefulness in society. A person does not need a gatekeeper to a place to rest their head, and you do not deserve to gain materially by passing your burdens onto another.
