Let us also remember, when one invokes cultural tradition in an attempt to justify Japan's xenophobic Superior Dance, that Sharia and Purda are also cultural (Islamic) traditions, and that they support the concept of women as chattel, honor killings (samurai), assassins as heaven-bound martyrs (shades of ninja and kamikazi!), clitorectomy, and vaginal-labial infibulation (genital footbinding). Will anyone here have the gall to say that culture or tradition renders these barbaric practices defensible?
At Sat, 20 Feb 1999 14:27:37 -0500, you wrote:
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>Lee Daniel Crocker <lcrocker@mercury.colossus.net>
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> >Why is India the bad guy for not adopting the silly western idea
> >of patents?
>
>My emotions tell me your opinion on patents is correct but my mind tells
>me you're wrong. Before a major new drug can come on the market a company
>must shell out close to a billion dollars to pay for the research and development.
>If they didn't have patent protection for at least a few years after that they could never
>recover their investment, other companies would crank out dirt cheap generic versions
>by the ton. Only a fool would develop a new drug, as a stockholder I would sell my
>stock in any drug company that was so stupid as to spend any money at all on
>research. I think new drugs are a good thing so I must reluctantly conclude that
>patents are too.
>
> John K Clark jonkc@att.net
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Joe E. Dees
Poet, Pagan, Philosopher