Conservatives Should Be Against Patents

When you think of political stances, you tend to find the conservatives on the wrong side of things, or at least on the obvious side, but one that doesn't match their rhetoric. I'm talking about conservatives as a mindset, rather than any individual party here. They tend to be pro big-business, pro profits, pro ownership etc but for patents it doesn't add up.

The conservative ideal is that everyone should stand on their own, make their own way in the world, work hard and don't rely on handouts for stuff they didn't do. Patents are just that, a hand out for stuff they didn't do. Not only that, but those who do actually produce stuff are those very people the conservatives champion as ideal role models; they are working hard, making their own way giving customers goods and services they want. When you do that, and someone else come along to tax your hard work to take stuff they're not entitled to, we'll that's just not right.

This applies to all IP laws and regulations. Conservative minded politicians and business people the world over are the loudest foghorns for strong IP laws. The only way this makes sense is if it's about which direction the money goes. In the US, if it's US businesses extorting those from other countries, it's good, right and proper that foreigners don't leech off of our good American innovations. If it goes the other way, it's against the common good that American companies need to pay others to be allowed to compete; it's a free market damnit.

The next time you see a conservative arguing for stronger IP enforcement and penalties, ask them to square this circle. Other than blind hypocrisy, I can't see how it squares up.