That ' s my thinking as well . I believe the same thing about substance abuse . Particularly weed . For example I don ' t hunk that weed is what makes people stop showering , get put leaf tattoos and quit going to class so they flunk out of college . I think that guy was probably going hat way eventually and weed was the vehicle . Other wise everyone who tried weed would end up the same way . <| sep |> You know what ' s more efficient than providing food and shelter directly for inventions which is effectively a barter system ? Giving them money . You know what ' s the most efficient way of deciding how much money an invention is worth to society ? The free market . How do we give people the free market value of their inventions ? By letting them sell the invention on the free market via patents . The current system is just the most efficient version of exactly what you suggest . Also , licencing exists , so a patent doesn ' t mean nobody else can make the thing . It just means the inventor will get fair free market compensation when other people make the thing .