green banana

I think it is helpful to distinguish between an ethical theory and the maxims it produces. Maxims are prescriptions 'brush your teeth' or prohibitions 'don't steal'. While the Christian / Islamic / Jewish ethical foundation is wrong, the believers practice maxims that can be in line with a rational ethical theory. It's not that they are doing something wrong, but that their justifications for their actions is flawed. I can see why it is easier to discuss ethics with somebody like that.

Harris' argument can be proven wrong. LIke Carl Bartelt said, intentions don't matter. No group acts with a bad premeditation. All of them want to improve something. Even the Commies wanted to improve the world while killing millions of people.

Political parties cater for different demographics to get power. That's their only difference. They don't have a specific profile or a philosphy. How many Republican politicians live 'their' values? How many send their kids to fight in wars? How many of them live in monogamous relationships? The enemy of your enemy may be a friend. He or she might be a sociopath as well.

"This has resulted in burdensome civil lawsuits against farmers through no fault of their own." Yes, I read of those cases. I have a hard time imagining how those companies would survive in a free market. This leads to a very interesting question. Can you patent something that you have not created but discovered? While GMO organism fall under the homesteading principle, discovering something involves no creation per se. How can you own something you did not make?

The basic answer comes straight out of John Locke's Second Treatise on Government. Anybody improving land and marking it as distinct has made a rightful claim to it.

I think that agrotech companies provided licenses for free to use their proprietary technology (at least that's what the golden rice initiiative claims) "A licence to those technologies was obtained from Syngenta. The package contained proprietary technologies belonging not only to Syngenta but also to Bayer AG, Monsanto Co, Orynova BV, and Zeneca Mogen BV.These companies provided access to the required technologies free of charge, for humanitarian purposes." http://www.goldenrice.org/Content1-Who/who4_IP.php

One has to wonder why none of the biochemical companies has come up with a product such as golden rice, when there is supposedly such a big demand for it.

Key insights into the minds of Stefan and David Letterman. Brilliant.

I like the 8-bit series quite a lot. I think Freud's theory of a drive for sexuality and for destruction is well worth considering. This explains why all of a sudden groups of people suddenly turn insane and support war.