I am not sure I understand any of this, swan

I appreciate your clarification, but I'm not making a political statement. Ayn Rand speaks of culture as follows:
"The acceptance of the achievements of an individual by other individuals does not represent “ethnicity”: it represents a cultural division of labor in a free market; it represents a conscious, individual choice on the part of all the men involved; the achievements may be scientific or technological or industrial or intellectual or esthetic—and the sum of such accepted achievements constitutes a free, civilized nation’s culture. Tradition has nothing to do with it; tradition is being challenged and blasted daily in a free, civilized society: its citizens accept ideas and products because they are true and/or good—not because they are old nor because their ancestors accepted them. In such a society, concretes change, but what remains immutable—by individual conviction, not by tradition—are those philosophical principles which correspond to reality, i.e., which are true." “Global Balkanization,” The Voice of Reason, 119 (emphasis added)

The point I'm attempting to offer is that protection of private property arises from individual natural rights acknowledged and accepted by the group of individuals one associates with. Rights still exist regardless of the association involved, but protection of any rights relies on philosophical principles--not political (governing power) manipulations. It's interesting (and a bit disheartening) to see so much of the space and verbiage on this site devoted to the discussion of gaining or maintaining governing power (the ability to enact law and use force) rather than to the understanding and application of philosophical principles that support freedom and economic gain.

There are only 3 cultures on Earth: hunter-gatherer; agrarian; industrial. In hunter-gatherer culture, there is NO concept of property at all, and everyone lives off the land, pretty much as the animals do. In agrarian culture, there exists property and inheritance rights in LAND or its equivalent, and there exists the beginnings of civilization as we know it, viz., government, reading, writing, counting, law, calendars, etc. In industrial culture, there exists property and inheritance rights in IDEAS, along with the necessary infrastructure to support them, like universal education, patents, trademarks, capital markets, all operating to create a virtuous cycle of innovation (including invention), which is the hallmark of industrial society. Each one of these cultures act as software in a society, which is why they're incompatible with each other. THAT is the role that culture plays in society, but it's up to each individual to make use of it to the best of their abilities. There can be no software that induces behavior that's counterproductive; we call such instructions "bugs." Ergo, socialism and other forms of interference are viruses that create bugs in an otherwise workable system.

Instead, the invention buried them.
My wife and I spent years honing our craft. She traveled to the Professional Photographers school in Indiana, I built a color darkroom, we kept up with the latest techniques, won prizes (Her) BUT when Kodak offered to finance the building of an automated color lab in my store, I grew suspicious. In any case, I looked down the road and decided that the day of the unaffiliated camera shop, photo studio or anything to do with photography had its days numbered.

The distinction between a culture and an individual is major. there is no such thing as a collective mind. unless of course you are speaking of politicians who have taken their minds and collected them in a trash compactor. individuals can and do accomplish things cultures do no.

The inventor of the digital camera worked at Kodak. Management just tried to bury the invention. http://www.businessinsider.com/this-m...

I think we might disagree on one thing only - the definition of a good management team. A good management team would not have "under- prioritized invention and over-prioritized execution or dissemination skills."

The principal objective of liberal-progressive politics is the acquisition of power and the legalization of theft. Under the "progressive" ideology the establishment of a new aristocracy ruled not by those with ideas but by those with "pull".

In 1989, when we closed our camera shop and photo studio, it was just a few years before the coming of digital photography. I remember touring the vast Eastman Kodak establishment in Rochester, New York. The impressive labs, the massive darkrooms, the camera manufacturing facility. Then, there were the developing labs spotted all over the country producing slides, color pictures and enlargements. All gone. Kodak is now a mere shadow of its former self My fabulous Nikon outfit, and Hasselblad outfit with their lenses and accessories -- useless. It was a sad day when I realized that I had to go digital At one point, we had an entire color lab in our basement. When the BW shot a wedding we produced all the photos ourselves, which took many hours. A task we could now do in less than a tenth of the time. Fortunately for us, 1989 was a good time to get out of the photography business.

this is all new to me, I knew the Lowe brothers but did not know they engaged or tried to the military. I may have know Tom Cook but do not recall. Any way the currecnt backpack is a Arctyrex design. Made by Propper in Puerto Rico. As for sleeping bags I am dominant with SPEC OPS or possibly exclusive today, but as for Natick while they bastardized what I made for the which has continually failed they are coming around to my way of thinking; it is slow but happening. They also recognize they have a VERY BIG problem with boots as in goretex. That may also change in a year or two.

Understand. I was just pointing out that even companies without those disruptive technologies can be successful if they provide perceived value to customers.

There are many creators of disruptive technologies who've failed from a lack of management and marketing skills. I know this from experience, having invested in several such firms, strictly because they'd created something new and of great value, and botched delivering it to the customer base.

hey, Dr. I think the point is not niche markets but disruptive technology :)

Sometimes, improvements on older technologies create new customers. "Vinyl" records are seeing a comeback among millennials because of the perception that digital sound quality isn't yet the match of analog. Vacuum tubes still have a market where demand for higher frequencies or power exceed the capability of solid state. The tube technology is highly resistant to electromagnetic pulse that fries solid state equipment.

Even the much maligned buggy whip hasn't gone away. The population of consumers is just smaller.

We are witnessing today that cultures can destroy productivity and innovation. How long will innovation continue in a near 0 growth economy? Especially one that is stealing so much in taxes for rat holes. Obamacare is destroying growth and stealing from the successful in a huge tax called a health insurance policy. Innovations come with economic growth.

To add more. I DID NOT know how well the bags and clothing would actually perform for 20 years once I started selling product, and where did I get my education on its performance capability from personal use but it was better when my customers told me of their experiences, many of which I would never personally experience.

If I may personalize, I as some of you know claim to make the best sleeping bag in the world, the best sleeping ever made since the inception of sleeping bag manufacturing.
This did not just come about magically. I started in the business world selling insulations for use in outerwear. eventually I was selling my insulation to companies that made sleeping bags as well as outerwear. The more expensive makers turned to Polar Guard the very first and still only continuous filament fiber for use as am insulation. Today it is Lamilite with Climashield.The company I represented made it. I learned that quilted chopped staple fiberfill had to be quilted and the quilt stitching were cold spots. I then said what if we laminate it to eliminate the cold spots. But the chopped fiber would not work but then I tried the continuous filament fiber. It did work. So I bought a sewing machine and sewed up sample sleeping bags to show the companies I sold fiber to advising them that the best way to use the Polar Guard was to laminate it. No cold spots better insulation. Not a one believed me. There are other reasons to use it but you can read that on my web site. The idea to do this and actually make a useable product was 8 years in the making; i.e that was the time frame it took for me to get an education about all aspects of insulation from how it is made etc. The proof of how well my sleeping bags perform can be seen by reading the multitude of testimonials that I have received and continue to receive. Long after I am gone people will still be using my bags and if my heir can keep the company going they will continue to be sold. db is very correct good ideas are NOT a dime a dozen. When my patent attorney did the necessary research to see if my bag was patentable he sent copies to me of all those already patented. Of about 15 only one other bag patented was made and sold. It was originally patented by a company known as Alp Sports or Alpine Designs one and the same. They never made the bag but North Face did, It was known as shingle construction. Enormously expensive construction and it never worked but TNF sold them on their reputation. I do not think they make that construction today, makes no difference, bad product.
It is my belief that good ideas for products used by people are diminishing because the younger generation thinks by the age of 14 they know it all.

Cultures don’t actually do any of these things, individuals do. It may seem a minor distinction, but it’s an important one because our political opponents personalize “society” to make similar-sounding arguments, such as “a caring society is one that meets the needs of the poor.”

Very well said. The enormity of private property protection including patents cannot be overstated. But I might add that something else has to be considered--and that is a culture that welcomes the inventor, that recognizes the accomplishment of the individual, that supports the self esteem necessary to think that this idea of mine is important enough for me to actualize, that celebrates the genius and hours of work required to envision the idea and make it real--and such a culture takes pride in the protection of private property.

actually, people say this all the time. sorry, you are not the first in that regard, cg.

oh. I didn't realize. this has been "snazzied up" for SS. lol

A reference to Digital Computers - Wow! This takes me back to when I used one of those computers to put together a database so that a Century 21 agency could snail mail the first "This house just listed or sold in your neighborhood." Now all you have to do is get on Zillow!

This article appeared earlier, and it's good to see it reprinted for a different audience. https://www.galtsgulchonline.com/post...

It may be partly inspired by my comment that "uncommercialized ideas are a dime a dozen". https://www.galtsgulchonline.com/post...

The statement about a well-managed vacuum tube company vs semiconductors is powerful. I'm sure I would have scoffed at the first semiconductor prototype b/c it was bigger than a vac tube.

I think I fall into that Gen-X thinking that Peter Thiel describes where we think all cases of large investment on a new idea are WebVan.