Monsanto, Microsoft, Apple

It never ceases to amaze me that people who find Monsanto's agricultural patenting (in that context, Haiti) to be detestable do not see the parallels with Microsoft and - yes - Apple.

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for capitalism within a structured society, but I do not feel that capitalism should restructure society.

Microsoft and other proprietary software companies, which to an extent includes Apple despite open source licensing, do exactly the same - assuring that the seeds, replanted, get them revenue. It's a way of creating a dependency which is sort of like a negotiation at gunpoint - a shotgun marriage in the case of the poor. Free Software and Open Source can trump that if people choose them. But those that look for handouts all too often find exactly what they are looking for without considering that nothing comes without a cost.

So it is with just about everything proprietary - including, and especially, content. One would think that people who need things would work with tool that would allow more freedom, but those looking for handouts never seem to go with the options that include work and creating their own versions of things (a la Free Software, Open Source and Open Content).

Smart people make smart choices. Dumb people make dumb choices. Educated people make educated choices. Smart educated people make smart educated choices. Dumb educated people make dumb educated choices.

And I submit to you that if you have issues with Monsanto and not proprietary software manufacturers and content creators, you're a dumb person - educated or not.

Get educated. Be smart. Leverage what the world has made available at no cost through Free Software/Open Source, Open Content and Open Hardware. Pay attention to copyright laws and patent laws.

The freedom you save may be your own.

And you can do all of that while practicing capitalism.