So the argument here isn't that a patent system is inherently bad; you could have a patent system that provides a net win for society. But over time, entrenched interests will find ways to twist the system to their advantage, at the expense of society at large.
Let's say this is true; how is this different from any government action in the marketplace? From education to finance to healthcare, we're confronted with problems that have may have good theoretical solutions by government, but the reality is that our solutions will eventually devolve to rent-seeking and regulatory capture by powerful entrenched interests. I have yet to hear a good solution to this problem other than severely limiting the ability of the government to interfere with markets in the first place.
How about an educated electorate that votes and votes good representatives into office who will diligently represent the interests of their informed electorate? Read through that sentence again, let it soak in, you will begin to see everything that is wrong with the American political system.
I think it's very tough to make the case that America is uniquely bad in this regard. Do you seriously think that Europe is a political utopia that elects people who only do the best for citizens, or that entrenched interests haven't captured public power and funds??
Well obviously America isn't uniquely bad in this regard if compared to the rest of the world and what we are talking about occurs on a spectrum so everything is relative but compared to other Western European nations I think America is absolutely quite bad in comparison.
The people I've known personally who've tried (and sometimes succeeded, one of them was a member of the European Parliament, my old Irish teacher Sean O'Neachtain) to get into public office have all been pompous assholes. You don't really get much of a choice.
Let's say this is true; how is this different from any government action in the marketplace? From education to finance to healthcare, we're confronted with problems that have may have good theoretical solutions by government, but the reality is that our solutions will eventually devolve to rent-seeking and regulatory capture by powerful entrenched interests. I have yet to hear a good solution to this problem other than severely limiting the ability of the government to interfere with markets in the first place.