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Comment by datadrivenangel | Hacker News Reader

The US used to ignore IP laws when we were an underdog.

One colorful anecdote from that period.

> In the United Kingdom, he was called "Slater the Traitor" and "Sam the Slate" because he brought British textile technology to the United States, modifying it for American use. He memorized the textile factory machinery designs as an apprentice to a pioneer in the British industry before migrating to the U.S. at the age of 21.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Slater

Do you think China is still an underdog compared to the US?

I suspect the only thing that would ever convince China to take IP seriously is if China's own companies would profit more from stronger IP protection.

China takes IP very seriously domestically when big corporations need protection. A bit of topic but I always found that the only "communist" country is the biggest infringer of copyleft licenses and has neglible open source culture. Shouldn't code be "for the people".

Totalitarian dictatorships are not communism.

Point us to a "real" communist country, either existing or in the past.

That's the point, isn't it? There aren't any. But what was the point of asking?

The point is that Communism always leads to totalitarianism

China operates an almost entirely capitalist economy. Who's ever heard of new billionaires under Communism? In fact no country remotely implements "communism," yet you say it always leads to authoritarianism. Why and how would an economic system only create totalitarianism? I think it more likely has to do with complex historical and political factors that leads to despots taking power under the guise of communism. I think it's fairly antiquated and disingenuous to make this red-scare blanket statement in 2024

So what you’re saying is that communism is such an unworkable ideal that nobody has achieved it on even a small-nation scale?

It’s cool in principle. It doesn’t actually work at scale. It barely works with 100 people. Still a fan?

It wasn’t tried at scale is what’s being argued. Maos china was not really communist even though they called themselves the communist party. Maybe something like totalitarian state capitalists

Oh, I get that. I’m saying, it barely works at even small scale, like 100 people (there are innumerable failed communes in the US), let alone a small state of a few million. I don’t think the Chinese under Mao implemented communism in any meaningful way, but that’s not proof of communism being unworkable. Its manifest failure on any scale beyond a large family is why I think it’s just not workable for society.

What's the point again? He did put the word "communism" in quotes, so I don't understand your ultra-pedantic remark.

The Church of Scientology's site promises to "bring Man to total freedom and truth". But in practice, all it does is separate its adherents from their money, and generally make their lives and the lives of those around them worse.

As such, True Scientology has never been tried! Maybe we ought to try it, so that we can have total freedom and truth?

> the only "communist" country

What about Vietnam and Cuba?

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