Well, this is a concise exposition of the capitalist view of the
situation. I take a somewhat different viewpoint.
Software prices clearly are based on what the consumer will pay, and
only partly on development and production costs. Compare three pieces
of software which can be used to do much the same thing - registering
images - RegiStar ($149), Picture Window ($49) and PanoTools (free).
Could move off the off-topic topic here with a discussion about
merits/otherwise of open source software, but won't. You're not
rewarding skill and talent by paying $500 for photoshop - you're pouring
money into the bank account of the grinning chief executive.
Society makes most of the decisions about your level of life, in global,
national and local terms. The wages you earn do not reflect your value
to society and are not the result of your decisions alone. If you think
that a company executive should earn ten times as much as a junior
doctor, or that an accountant should earn much more than a teacher, I
think you have a hard time justifying that stance. If you think that
people in prison and on the streets have only themselves to blame for
their plight, ask yourself why ethnic minorities, people who have been
through the care system, people who have served in the armed forces,
people with mental problems are all vastly over-represented in these two
predicaments.
On a global level, the capitalist governments conspire to keep most of
the world poor so that the capitalist system will survive. Look at
American interventions in Chile, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and much of Latin
America. Look at the British government's support of the drug companies
and their refusal to sell AIDS drugs cheaply to sub-Saharan Africa.
We on this list are educated, literate, and have access to computers and
the internet. This puts us well up in the most fortunate 10f
humanity. We're debating whether to spend $500 on computer software
when half the world lives on less than $1 a day. We all have a
responsibilty and I would say an obligation to make the world a better
place for everyone. Sitting back and congratulating ourselves on the
'decisions' that have led to us being so well off is not the way to do
this.
So what am I saying? Buy the software if you want to - just don't be
under the impression that you're rewarding talent and entrepreneurship
rather than paying $300 straight into the director's annual bonus. Rip
the software off if you want to - but put a few pounds into the next
charity tin you see.
Chuck, I bet you can't believe what happened to your quite innocuous
original post. Good luck with the architectural photography if you take
it up.
Roger
NSURIT@xxxxxxx wrote:
>
> Rich or poor, it is your choice.
>
> Wrong or right, it is your decision.
>
> The software developer had the talent to create something which I
> value and
> am willing to trade for my money. Money which was earned from talents
> I
> possess and from taking risk others may not have been willing to take.
>
> Society does not make decisions about my level of life. That has been
>
> created by me in the decisions I have made in my lifetime. When one
> accepts
> their current circumstances as a reflection of the cumulative choices
> they
> have made, they will experience both power and freedom that eludes
> many.
> Here again we all have choices. Do we accept responsibility for our
> decisions or do we blame our circumstances on society, our parents,
> the
> education system or whomever or whatever it is to which we choose to
> relinquish our power and the responsibility for our life? Experience
> has
> shown me that should I not be happy with what it is that "life" has
> given me,
> I can change them through my willingness to change what I am doing and
> what
> I'm willing to put at risk.
>
> Our prison systems are full of people who have rationalized their
> actions and
> given the power for their circumstance to someone or something else.
>
> Different choices would have produced different results.
>
> What changes in our choices would have us able to own rather than
> possess
> Photoshop. Although I do not own this program, one day I will. It is
> a
> choice I have made. My owning it will reward its developer for their
> talent,
> the risk they have taken and the choices they have made in their life.
> I am
> honored to have the opportunity to participate in that type of system.
> If it
> works for them, it will work for me.
>
> Bill Barber
--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'I want them to have the courage of my convictions'
-- Margaret Thatcher, asked whether she thought cabinet ministers
should have the courage of their convictions
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|