Capitalism vs. Science

Written by Mike Palecek  

Wednesday, 12 August 2009

With thanks: International Marxist Website

Cross Posted at : Sherryx’s Weblog

We are constantly bombarded with the myth that capitalism drives innovation, technology, and scientific advancement. But in fact, the precise opposite is true. Capitalism is holding back every aspect of human development, and science and technology is no exception.

We are constantly bombarded with the myth that capitalism drives innovation, technology, and scientific advancement. We are told that competition, combined with the profit motive, pushes science to new frontiers and gives big corporations incentive to invent new medicines, drugs, and treatments. The free market, we are told, is the greatest motivator for human advance. But in fact, the precise opposite is true. Patents, profits, and private ownership of the means of production are actually the greatest fetters science has known in recent history. Capitalism is holding back every aspect of human development, and science and technology is no exception.

Main slab of the Darwinius masillae holotype fossil. Photo by Jens L. Franzen, Philip D. Gingerich, Jörg Habersetzer1, Jørn H. Hurum, Wighart von Koenigswald, B. Holly Smith.The most recent and blatant example of private ownership serving as a barrier to advancement can be found in the Ida fossil. Darwinius masillae is a 47 million year old lemur that was recently “discovered”. Anyone and everyone interested in evolution cheered at the unveiling of a transitional species, linking upper primates and lower mammals. Ida has forward-facing eyes, short limbs, and even opposable thumbs. What is even more remarkable is the stunning condition she was preserved in. This fossil is 95% complete. The outline of her fur is clearly visible and scientists have even been able to examine the contents of her stomach, determining that her last meal consisted of fruits, seeds, and leaves. Enthusiasts are flocking to New York’s Museum of Natural History to get a glimpse of the landmark fossil.

So what does Ida have to do with capitalism? Well, she was actually unearthed in 1983 and has been held by a private collector ever since. The collector didn’t realize the significance of the fossil (not surprising since he is not a paleontologist) and so it just collected dust for 25 years.

There is a large international market for fossils. Capitalism has reduced these treasures, which rightly belong to all of humanity, to mere commodities. Privately held fossils are regularly leased to museums so that they may be studied or displayed. Private fossil collections tour the world, where they can make money for their owners, instead of undergoing serious study. And countless rare specimens sit in the warehouses of investment companies, or the living rooms of collectors serving as nothing more than a conversation piece. It is impossible to know how many important fossils are sitting, waiting to be discovered in some millionaire’s office.

Medical Research

The pharmaceutical industry is well known for price gouging and refusing to distribute medicines to those who can’t afford it. The lack of drugs to combat the AIDS pandemic, particularly in Africa, is enough to prove capitalism’s inability to distribute medicine to those in need. But what role does the profit motive play in developing new drugs? The big pharmaceuticals have an equally damning record in the research and development side of their industry.

AIDS patients can pay tens of thousands of dollars per year for the medication they need to keep them alive. In 2003, when a new drug called Fuzeon was introduced, there was an outcry over the cost, which would hit patients with a bill of over $20,000 per year. Roche’s chairman and chief executive, Franz Humer tried to justify the price tag, “We need to make a decent rate of return on our innovations. This is a major breakthrough therapy… I can’t imagine a society that doesn’t want that innovation to continue.”

But the innovation that Mr. Humer speaks of is only half-hearted. Drug companies are not motivated by compassion; they are motivated by cash. To a drug company, a person with AIDS is not a patient, but a customer. The pharmaceutical industry has a financial incentive to make sure that these people are repeat-customers, consequently there is very little research being done to find a cure. Most research done by the private sector is centered on finding new anti-retroviral drugs – drugs that patients will have to continue taking for a lifetime.

There has been a push to fund research for an AIDS vaccine and, more recently, an effective microbicide. However, the vast majority of this funding comes from government and non-profit groups. The pharmaceutical industry simply isn’t funding the research to tackle this pandemic. And why would they? No company on earth would fund research that is specifically designed to put them out of business.

Amazon Kindle and the Future of Books

Amazon.com is about to release the Kindle DX, the latest incarnation of its handheld e-book reader. The description lists the following key features in the Kindle DX:

Slim: Just over 1/3 of an inch, as thin as most magazines

Carry Your Library: Holds up to 3,500 books, periodicals, and documents

Beautiful Large Display: 9.7″ diagonal e-ink screen reads like real paper; boasts 16 shades of gray for clear text and sharp images

Auto-Rotating Screen: Display auto-rotates from portrait to landscape as you turn the device so you can view full-width maps, graphs, tables, and Web pages

Built-In PDF Reader: Native PDF support allows you to carry and read all of your personal and professional documents on the go

Wireless: 3G wireless lets you download books right from your Kindle DX, anytime, anywhere; no monthly fees, no annual contracts, and no hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots

Books In Under 60 Seconds: You get free wireless delivery of books in less than 60 seconds; no PC required

Long Battery Life: Read for days without recharging

Read-to-Me: With the text-to-speech feature, Kindle DX can read newspapers, magazines, blogs, and books out loud to you, unless the book’s rights holder made the feature unavailable

Big Selection, Low Prices: Over 285,000 books; New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases are only $9.99, unless marked otherwise

More Than Books: U.S. and international newspapers including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, magazines including The New Yorker and Time, plus popular blogs, all auto-delivered wirelessly

The feature that struck me the most was the built-in native PDF reader. Given how many papers I have in PDF format, a device like the Kindle DX would be a Godsend for me. I can’t be printing out hundreds of papers or book chapters now. I do think that handheld electronic PDF readers are the wave of the future, and will be a substantially more environmentally-friendly way to exchange information — they actually give us a chance at achieving truly paper-free educational or workplace settings for the first time.

However, personally I’m not going to be purchasing the Kindle DX for a while. I’ll wait till the e-ink technology that is used for the Kindle screen to reduce eye-strain (a huge improvement over standard LCD screens) is more developed. Given that the Kindle DX costs nearly $500, I would expect some more features from it which aren’t provided yet:

• The device doesn’t as yet have a full-colour screen (the Kindle series is currently black-and-white only).

• It’s not clear to me how one can transfer ordinary PDF files to the Kindle. I think one either uses Amazon’s wireless service to do so or a USB cable of some sort … I would just like to be able to stick a flashdisk into the device and pick up my PDFs from there, and I don’t think this feature is available right now.

• Finally, as a student and aspiring scholar, I would really like the device to provide tablet-like capabilities. There ought to be an electronic pen, the ability to make notes and annotate PDFs or e-books, and save annotated versions as separate copies that can then be exported via flashdisk or USB cable to computers for printing purposes if required. There is some highlighting ability in the Kindle already but it would be much more convenient if one could do it using a handheld electronic pen of some sort. Of course, this is where the e-ink screen technology has a long way to go before it can catch up with LCD technology.

In sum, I see the Kindle series and similar e-book/PDF reading devices as having great potential, but I think the technology is still in its infancy and it will be some time before it really comes into its own. Speaking for myself, I’ll wait till the e-ink technology is improved and there are more such readers on the market before making any purchases — that should also bring down the Kindle DX’s price from the current exorbitant $489.

Watch a video showcasing the key features of the Kindle DX below.