Great weapons allow superior cultures to be safe from traditionalist rebels against progress. It's that simple.

May-Brit; the brain breakthrough may prove very significant both scientifically and in technology. The rest of the suggestions are cultural noise, about matters of minimal significance to those not personally involved somehow.

How much to tax from whom by what means: these are matters of opinion, as Gates says. Tax labor less, consumption more, and eliminate subsidy granted by silly tax breaks (such as 'carried interest') for the earnings of capital, especially finance capital.

What to do is the core of these kinds of discussions, just as it is with pollution impacts on climate. Exactly what is going on is not relevant.

Piketty is clueless about capital, except as to the point Mr. Gates restates: inequality is a NECESSARY part of capital and of progress by any means, inescapably so. But social cohesion is also, and at some point, inequality can undermine social cohesion, just as boneheaded support for cohesion can suppress progress.

Gates has made a life out of taking good ideas and making them universally known and available, but as OPTIONS. Fearing capability is stupid.

I'm with Einstein: "There are two infinite things, the Universe and Stupidity, and I am uncertain about the first". The hoi polloi are not infinite although their stupidity may well prove to be.

Afraid of Bill? Are you kidding?

Free software can be problematic also.

For one, serious use isn't free...enterprise use requires growing or renting expertise. Many of the major stuff, such as Mozilla, are supported by groups that actually do at least in part require funding.

For another, all open licenses are not the same - can matter depending on what one intends to do

Yet another, sometimes unintended consequences like Heartbleed are included equally 'free' yea right.

Then there are things like shooter games and windows vs linux.

Finally, some of the commercial stuff works well in some respects,; Chrome is not bad on security although personally I do not like it's approach to customizations and store aps (Chrome is not exactly free it's part of the driving forward of the Googlezillan Empire)

Also, some political entities, being supposedly sovereign, actually support intellectual property in the sense that Windows or Nvidia or HP drivers are not penetrable by ordinary mortals, but at least most of the time developed in a coherent manner. I myself prefer the idea that inventors/investors/first movers will do at least as well without DMCA, but not everyone agrees.

Are not the feelings thought words and deeds of others, their right to determine? Does what others do or any of the rest of it matter? I don't think so, provided whoever is on one's team and in one's ecosystem benefits sufficiently to tolerate you...

Yet another in the inexhaustible stream of BENEFITS from USB and Wireless technology! Love it!

with the exception of direct and tangible harm to bodies, human health, liberty, and property, no conduct should be criminal in the first place. And if some folks find things that facilitate freedom conducive to their allegedly improper conduct, then I am all for it.

About time something intelligent was tried.

People who have never paid for a product normally available only for sale ought to pay. Those who pay ought to be able to do exactly what they please with it. Including giving away free copies.

People wishing to exchange such free copies will find a way to do so, including by forming groups for that purpose, no matter what.

People whom attempt to PROFIT out of running such groups are another matter - these people are properly targets for lawsuits by the people who should be receiving that money.

The places likely to raise a minimum wage are the places where stuff cots too darn much. Because people want to be there. Because they or parts of them are booming. So lower wage people are angriest there. And also there is where one finds both the most people whose wages are so high they don't care what stuff costs, and the most people ideologically inclined to think that it is legitimate for government to attempt to be charitable to the things they themselves believe deserve charity. Hence the minimum wage kikes don't cause unemployment at the low end, as the hikes are being CAUSED by employment at the high end.

Those who think any government should do anything besides what governments are intended to do - protect life liberty and property by providing military security and domestic order and law, and foster prosperity through sound currency, sound law and sound infrastructure - those people really need to either pay the bill for it personally, or convince a majority in 3/4 of the States to impose a national value added tax to fund their goal.

Otherwise to Hell with it, no matter what it is.

Any firm that fires workers not relevant to it's continued prosperity and which fights tirelessly to hire those who would be, regardless of where they are FROM or in what so-called nation they live in, is a great company. Any politician not understanding that it is only such companies which create ANY of pensions, taxes, profits, goods, services, OR jobs, ought to get zero votes.

First, it's not hard to get, if you are (1) close to the target or (2) the NSA or (3) a criminal or (4) hang around some in one of the first three groups.

Second, if people and institutions are tending to rely on this information to make decisions about particular individuals, they are just wrong. They ought not to and if they do they should be incarcerated fined and sued for damages.

Granted all that data can model groups, or insurance companies and many other similar activities just would not work. Useless in dealing with people one at a time, whether on has friendly or hostile intent.

Finally, people evolved and until recently - no more than 12,000 years ago - invariably lived so that all knew everything about everyone they dealt with. That is the normal for homo sapiens. Privacy, anonymity and so on are artifacts of incompetent technology, and seem thought to be of value because commonly said incompetent technology has been unwisely if not maliciously used.

Gossip isn't intrinsically malicious - just an effective way of pressuring people to conform, and the least violent and intrusive such thing so far discovered.

Entirely agree. ALL ,laws and regulations are THEFT, as they enforce existing privileged positions, save only for those relating to the tendency and desire to PROHIBIT physical harm, property theft or damage, or the threat of either. Of course 'property' itself is a sort of privileged position as is physical health and life, but one DOES seem to need SOME ground rules in order to be able to interact with others.

Some things are too important to save money on. Fusion is one; space expansion is the other.

The Manhattan Project was an expensive undertaking, even for a rich country fully mobilized for war. Competing methods were given unlimited funds and two different methods were pursued to completion.

and so conducive to progress! LOL