With that said, something like the situation you described with the cure for cancer seems like a prime target for eminent domain. The government can, in theory, force you to sell them your patent for a reasonable amount, if it's in the public interest.
When the British created a worldwide empire, they imposed their ideas on their colonies, but eventually the colonies got strong enough that they developed their own values and asserted independence against colonialism. Now we have the same kind of situation happening with a certain segment of the world, mostly from Europe and its former colonies, attempting to impose a kind of intellectual colonialism over the world by controlling the use of information and using the rest of the world as a resource and manufactirng base. The same forces that took down colonialism are at work fighting against intellectual property, except it's much easier to fight intellectual property than colonial rule.
What I am arguing is that if I come up with a novel idea, I have created something. If you've created something, someone should have a good reason to take it from you.
You realize by that logic that no one is truly responsible for anything as an individual, that nothing they do can possibly create new value because they are simply doing what they next guy was going to do any way?
Sorry, ewzimm, but I definitely do not agree with your ideology here. I do not agree with you that a person is only worth the physical labor they are capable of providing. Can I ask what you think societies and governments should do with their elderly and disabled? I'm kind of scared of what your answer is going to be......
Maybe some people think that the exact laws we have right now are the best possible at serving the underlying purpose of the long-term enrichment of the public domain, but many seem to think that improvements could be made.
Also, idea's are generally speaking very cheap.
In a world where progress is made in "smallish" increments it doesn't make any sense to allow exclusive rights to the first one to apply for a patent.
Furthermore, other industries that mainly idea-driven like fashion industry are less about protection, but more about advancing faster.