>Doug Henwood wrote:
>>
>> How come Americans get all those patents and Nobels?
>>
>
>do you really believe that patents reflect real technical output? for
>example, some agribusiness in texas tried to patent "basmati" rice (a
>type of rice that has been produced in india for 100s of years).
>amazon.com patented "one click shopping". etc. etc. if you are willing
>to spot a few thousand dollars for each, i can help you write up and
>gain as many patents as you wish ;-). IIRC, mp's "steal this idea" has
>some good material on how the patent office works.
Of course they don't perfectly reflect technical output. Companies game the system all the time - but not just American ones. Still, there's little doubt that U.S. science and technology are extremely sophisticated. We also make some very fine cultural products, popular and high - and much of the rest of the world agrees. People come from around the world to our universities. We're not a bunch of knuckle-dragging dolts, fer chrissake. A lot of this is misanthropy disguised as politics.
Doug