Sep 10, 2014, 12:42 pm
(Jul 12, 2014, 11:26 am)astrel Wrote: [ -> ]If someone sings a song, it should be free
If someone draws a picture it should be free
If someone cures a disease it should be free
Forgive me but, why?
If an artist spends years training and working hard, draws pictures, does he or she not have a right to make a living from his or her work? If we make everything free, how is he/she going to make a living?
I agree that many aspects of society & the 'establishment' are unjust, and I'm not advocating an opinion here but want to understand both sides a little better.
As for music, producers, singers and musicians spend their lives working on music for us to enjoy. Why should they not get paid for their hard work?
If someone chooses to work for free, shouldn't that be their choice?
As for a cure for disease, it's perhaps a little more contraversial, but have you considered the possibilities? What if a man gets a bank loan and spends a huge amount of money and time researching a cure for a disease. Why should we all benefit from his discoveries while he goes bankrupt unable to pay the loan back? Does he not at least deserve recognition and the ability to live a life (pay for his food and roof over his head). All he needs is to get paid for his hard work, like anyone else. Perhaps there are two sides to every coin.
Many of us are guilty of downloading on pirate bay or other sites, but I don't understand this idea that we are somehow noble or doing something right. If we're just sharing stuff people made and chose to be free to share, that's one thing, but we're sharing things that professionals developed and it's their livelihood. Just because we don't have the money to download music, does this make it right to steal it? Or should we maybe do a few more hours overtime to earn the things we want? I'm not advocating any particular opinion but could someone explain this concept to me that these things should be free and their creators live in poverty? We can't assume every creator is rich like Bill gates.
If the whole world worked for free, do you think society would funciton? I doubt many people would bother to create anything. Who would drive the trains, run the shops, make clothes or grow food? And what about software? What right do we have to decide whether a programmer who spent years studying & working, has a right to get paid for his work or not? What gives us the right to force him to starve unable to afford his bills or roof over his head, while we benefit from his work for free?
We all think of the big companies who hold monopolies, like Microsoft or Apple but what about the small to medium sized businesses or average men who have mortgage and bills to pay and need to feed themselves like everyone else- what gives us a right to take away their income for their hard work?
Again, I'm not advocating any opinion but would like to understand the logic behind this a little better.