Patterico's Pontifications

4/4/2007

A Golden Opportunity For Michael J. Fox

Filed under: Public Policy — Justin Levine @ 6:47 pm



[posted by Justin Levine] 

I have never doubted Michael J. Fox’s sincere intentions regarding speaking out in favor of federal funding for embryonic stem cell research (and against those who oppose it). With that said however, he might want to now consider speaking out against the current Democratic Governor of Wisconsin, who threatens to do far more harm against progress in stem cell research than President Bush ever will.

13 Responses to “A Golden Opportunity For Michael J. Fox”

  1. So, Levine–when it comes to intellectual property, how come all you Libertarians turn out to be closet Bolsheviks?

    Jake Gittes (dab029)

  2. I’m sure you could have a good chat with Dean Baker, my go-to guy on intellectual property and trade policy. Here’s a recent post on big pharma,
    but he’s got a lot more

    AF (c319c8)

  3. Justin is right on this. (And he often is although I beat up on him on some copyright issues.) You should be able to patent an invention and even a manufacturing process but not a discovery of a naturally occuring physiology. Gee, I wonder who holds the patent on noses?

    nk (37b8ef)

  4. Richard Epstein is good for such topics, especially pharma. He has a recent EconTalk over at Cafe Hayek that is very good.

    Ray G (50194a)

  5. Jake Gittes,

    Libertarians acknowledge a fundamental difference between physicial property and intellectual property. Physical property is one of the foundations of individual rights. Intellectual property is not a right, it is a privilege granted for a limited amount of time, explicitly authorized by the Constitution for utilitarian reasons. IOW, intellectual property is not granted protection for its own sake, but for the benefit it brings to society.

    Bradley J. Fikes (1c6fc4)

  6. “Gee, I wonder who holds the patent on noses?”

    -nk

    God, of course… and His lawyers don’t mess around.

    Leviticus (43095b)

  7. Levi, that is a wonderfully snide answer that misses the point of NK’s comment completely.

    And by your logic, God holds ALL patents, since it’s pretty-much all his stuff…

    But a good try none-the-less…

    Scott Jacobs (90eabe)

  8. “Levi, that is a wonderfully snide answer that misses the point of NK’s comment completely.

    And by your logic, God holds ALL patents, since it’s pretty-much all his stuff…

    But a good try none-the-less…”

    -Scott Jacobs

    I can just picture it:

    Scott Jacobs, sitting in his chair with a dazed look on his face; who do these damn liberals think they are? Blasphemers! Suddenly inspired, he types out a witty reply: “God doesn’t have any attorneys”.

    You’re an idiot. If you would take a step back and try, for one second, to view my comments through an objective scope, you would know that that post was a fucking joke.

    nk knew that, because he’s dealt with me enough to know that not everything I say should be taken at face value (and that not everything I say has a political edge to it).

    As a general rule of thumb: “It’s better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.”

    Leviticus (43095b)

  9. The problem is that you’re such a damned moron about most other things, it’s really hard to tell when you’re joking, you dim-bulb…

    Scott Jacobs (90eabe)

  10. Tone it down, you two.

    Patterico (ae8906)

  11. Here you go guys. WARF. Very, very big and very rich in the field of patents. The explanation.

    nk (37b8ef)

  12. Hahaha…

    Hence the rule of thumb.

    Leviticus (43095b)

  13. Jake Gittes –

    Regarding your comment in # 1. Bradley J. Fikes pretty much nailed it in # 5. I agree with everything he said there.

    I should say that I do not describe myself as Libertarian. However, you might also want to read up on the specific reasons why many Libertarians are against IP (though there is admittedly a split on this issue within Libertarian camps). Check it out here:

    http://www.calblog.com/archives/003524.html

    Justin Levine (20f2b5)


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