Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

A new draft global trade treaty may interfere with fair use of copyrighted materials, require Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to monitor all consumers’ Internet communications, and undermine access to low-cost generic medicines. Does the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) contain provisions that would actually do these things? There’s no way to know, because the treaty…

It’s pretty hard these days to justify astronomical executive pay. In 2007, the average CEO’s pay of $10.5 million was 344 times higher on average than the average worker’s wage, according to Executive Excess 2008, a joint report from the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Policy Studies and Boston-based United for a Fair Economy. The top…

The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games have been referred to as the “People’s Games,” the “High Tech Games” and the “Green Games,” but they could be more aptly described as the Commercial Games. Commercialism is overrunning the Olympics. It is undermining the professed ideals of the Olympic Games, and subverting the Olympics’ veneration of sport with…