(no subject)
Jul. 18th, 2015 03:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
marjaerwinCopymight and patent monopolies make me think of the British salt monopoly in India.
It's not the same, because copymight and patent monopolies are at least supposed to have legitimate purposes, by providing funding for research and creative works, though they remain illegitimate means.
It's again not the same because the salt monopoly prices were hardest for the poorest people in India.
But copymight and patent monopolies are a key part of contemporary capitalism, like the salt monopoly was, afaik, a key part of British rule. And, afaik, Gandhi adopted a two-fold strategy against the salt monopoly. One part was to teach people to manufacture salt locally, bypassing the monopoly. Another part was to break into British salt factories, forcing the army and the police to use violence to protect the factories. After his arrest, this escalated, and foreign reporters saw the brutality of the army and the police against the salt marchers, which helped discredit the British regime. But many salt marchers bore severe injuries.
It's not the same, because copymight and patent monopolies are at least supposed to have legitimate purposes, by providing funding for research and creative works, though they remain illegitimate means.
It's again not the same because the salt monopoly prices were hardest for the poorest people in India.
But copymight and patent monopolies are a key part of contemporary capitalism, like the salt monopoly was, afaik, a key part of British rule. And, afaik, Gandhi adopted a two-fold strategy against the salt monopoly. One part was to teach people to manufacture salt locally, bypassing the monopoly. Another part was to break into British salt factories, forcing the army and the police to use violence to protect the factories. After his arrest, this escalated, and foreign reporters saw the brutality of the army and the police against the salt marchers, which helped discredit the British regime. But many salt marchers bore severe injuries.
