As for being behind the times, you yourself might take a look at Robert Meister's _Political Identity_. He explains what the LTOV is, which is a moral accounting of capitalist (and, potentially, future socialist) industry. Quite simple, quite powerful, quite indispensable.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org [mailto:lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org]
> On Behalf Of Chuck0
> Sent: Wednesday, December 22, 2004 11:43 PM
> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] plagiarism watch
>
> Michael Dawson wrote:
>
> > So you refuse to get paid for your work? If you publish a book or make
> a
> > record of songs you wrote and learned to make beautiful, I and all
> others
> > can copy it for free or just plain steal it? Pretty amazing altruism!
> Or
> > is it conservatism -- i.e., sacrificing of others welfare for your
> > principles?
>
> Wow! You really are behind the curve. If I have time in the next few
> days, I'll dig out some article citations.
>
> One of the major misconceptions about intellectual property is that it
> protects artists ability to make money. In reality, IP chiefly exists
> for the benefit of large corporations who can employ lawyers to enforce
> the idea that IP exists. See the continued efforts by the RIAA to sue
> file traders (which is mostly a facade in a war that was won by the file
> sharers).
>
> Even in the era of file sharing, artists continue to produce works and
> make a living. If anything, file sharing has leveled the playing field.
> Instead of the music industry arbirtarily creating a small stable of
> stars, the Internet has enabled thousands of musicians to find audiences
> for their work. They make money selling songs, but more importantly they
> develop a fan base, which is more likely to pay for concerts. Given that
> many music fans still "collect" music, there is a market for physical
> recordings. Things like Ipods, XM radio, and file sharing have just
> increased the opportunities for the small artists. These may be rough
> times for U2, Britney Spears, and other mega stars, but it's a wonderful
> time for small artists.
>
> The business crowd calls this disintermediation. In other words, getting
> rid of the middle man, which everybody knows as that corrupt system
> consisting of the music industry, big chain music stores, and radio
> stations that play limited playlists. File sharing and new technologies
> have smashed this exclusive distribution system.
>
> Chuck
>
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