gluemeat said:
You're right - it is dishonest and predatory, but I for one believe it does indeed happen.
You misunderstand me, then. I wasn't implying that it doesn't happen, but instead commenting on the sad state of affairs in the current IT market.
It's as simple as saying: it ain't broke, don't fix it. The current problems and security issues currently do bring in loads of cash and generate lots of jobs.
I'll apply the same counter argument to this that I did to people who told me they would never, ever vote third party if they didn't like either of the main candidates. The
only reason why things never change is that everyone is so defeatist and down on anyone who bucks the herd that there's no chance they can make a difference. Stand up for your beliefs, push for a change if it's what you really, really believe in, and I guarantee that I'll either be at your elbow or across the line shoving back.
The only enemy of progress is apathy. Anything else can be overcome.
Creating solutions to these situations would demand re-thinking the whole thing, and we're so well entrenched in these systems, which are maintained in place by billionaires on every end of the IT racket, that retooling seems too gargantuan a task to undertake.
Let me spin out a little metaphor for you, while admitting ahead of time it won't be perfect.
Way back when, some people were really unhappy with the way that a manager was telling them to run the budget according to his policies. He didn't really give them any choice in anything, took most of the profit for himself, and even told them what they could and couldn't do while on the company grounds. The employees got fed up, left, and started their own corporation to try to stop this kind of thing from happening. When their previous employer made a bid for a hostile takeover, they repelled the attempt.
Name that historical event, and tell me why it's relevant to what I said above.
Doctors DO treat instead of curing sometimes. Why? Because of deals they have set up with pharmaceutical companies, or because surgery waiting lists are so long that smaller "defects" that could be cured by an operation are dealt with in different ways.
Maybe I've been spoiled by growing up the child of - and around other - ethical doctors. I know that the corruption exists and many physicians have selfish reason for their methods, but I just don't see it as much as people claim. I know all kinds of insider information about the way the medical system operates (where I live, at least) and know a good bit about national trends because my mother's an activist/lobbysit for her professional association.
The issue with "lesser treatment" has more to do with patient consent, the ignorance and "magic bullet" attitude of most patients, and pressure of the drug companies and legislation on physicians. When you can lose your practice over someone else botching a surgery you recommend, or a patient doesn't want to wait for a full diagnoses and pushes you repeatedly for something more drastic that later turns out to be unnecessary, all it takes is a greedy insurance company to break the average doctor.
It's not that simple.
Policemen DO release criminals on smaller charges knowing they will eventually bust them on something bigger down the line, that's reality.
"If I accept you as you are, I will make you worse; however if I treat you as though you are what you are capable of becoming, I help you become that."
-Goethe
Reality is not static, things can change, and washing your hands of the issue with a glib statement that "it's how it is" doesn't help
anyone but the people already in power. You'd think that mac users, of all people in the technology commmunity, might have grasped that you can't just sit back and let everyone else do things however they want.
You know, because Microsoft justs steals things. That's reality.
