I'm sorry for replying so after-the-fact. Yes, I nod my head vigorously regarding your last comment!

The opposite of competition is monopoly. It is ironic, because "big business" reviles socialism and communism because of the repressiveness of central planning, one entity (the government) controlling everything. Yet capitalism "run amok" has resulted in the same concentration of power, i.e. concentration of assets, control by one entity. The entity is a corporation rather than government in a monopoly situation, but it is as bad (or worse) than all control held by government.

I don't think this is the inevitable consequence of capitalism though. While it does seem to have happened that way in the USA, sorry, it HAS happened that way, there are other countries that have capitalist economic and governments that aren't as inequitable as we are now.

Psychiatry IS medicine. A psychiatrist is a medical doctor, must have an M.D. first, then specialize in psychiatry. Some (many?) so-called mental health conditions are caused by lifestyles vastly different than those under which we evolved, granted. Let's exclude them.

Chronic depression is terrible. I was less than 40 years old when my husband, my father, and my little baby died. I cried every day, for two years, no end in sight. I didn't remember to eat, comb my hair, brush my teeth, change clothes. I'd wander around my neighborhood in my nightgown, giving what little money I had to anyone who was homeless, because it was the only thing, their smiles, that relieved the sorrow for a tiny moment. Finally, I went to a psychiatrist. Treatment wasn't tranquilizers (Valium), anti-psychotics or stimulants. The very first anti-depressant the doctor prescribed started to help after about three weeks. No side effects, just that I had to take it at the same time each day, else I got a headache. We titrated the dose to the minimum level necessary to be effective. No brain biopsies or blood tests were necessary. Then I asked for the generic version, as it is a lot cheaper.

I still cry a lot, but I remember to eat and sleep. I got a used Toshiba Satellite laptop for $50, learned CSS and some Web 2.0 stuff, re-learned SAS, SPSS and some Fortran. I got a job (only part-time was available) working from home, which paid more than enough to cover rent and food for me and my mother. It was contract work, so I'm looking again, but I think I can find something. I doubt any of this would be possible without the psychiatrist and anti-depressant medication.

There are plenty of whiny, self-indulgent malingerer's in this world. Lots of attention-seekers too. One could certainly argue that they have problems! But they are not of the sort that require medication, or care of a psychiatrist. I will be happy when I don't need medication or care either.

It annoys me too, the fear reaction to some technology but not others. I don't know anything about biotechnology, but I worked as a statistician for a public health department, focusing on infectious AND non-infectious diseases. Yes, I realize that there are risks if one is sloppy. I also know that in biotech there are decent controls in place, which are observed by researchers to protect themselves as much as others.

Only a guess: More Slashdot readers are familiar with computing and engineering (of the non-biotech variety) than biology. Computing and consumer tech products are fun and friendly. Even after excluding network or personal computing security, there are big issues to fear from technology (not biotech). Privacy concerns, data mining and aggregation (think of CISPA or whatever the latest legislation acronym is), subtle societal effects that are difficult to anticipate, even physical harm due to non-ionizing radiation that we aren't aware of. Some of that is plausible, now, though a lot isn't. But everybody is excited, happy about Google Glass, Pebble and wearable electronics... at first.

Since someone else already responded to the second sentence, decisively, I'll do the first sentence:

I'm not a libertarian, nor GOP, nor male. I can tell you this, though: It is contrary to human nature not to be competitive. Some competition, starting from a young age, is good! It increases self-esteem, pride in family, school and country. Yes, cooperation is necessary too, e.g. a group of people aligned to achieve a common goal, which (usually) can be accomplished only through competition with those whose goals are different. Regarding "warmongers who encourage relaliatory [retaliatory?] action": Retaliatory action doesn't mean you are a warmonger. There are many ways to retaliate such as tariffs, embargoes, intermarriage. The latter is even a form of cooperation!

The TSA is a pathological bureaucracy. We had security and screening prior to boarding flights at airports for 20 (30?) years before 9/11. Those people didn't behave like the TSA. They searched and screened, but not in the TSA's rude, distasteful manner. They weren't privatized, and they didn't cost $8 billion per year to fund.