[vladTheInhaler]

>I just tend to assume that my language faculty is sufficient to follow involved arguments

Spoiler alert - it's not. You didn't even use the right form of skeptic; you should have written 'skeptical.' Besides being a non-sequitur, your analogy is fatally flawed. It presupposes that it is possible to steal ideas, when in fact it is only possible to copy them. Furthermore, every homeless person knows how to extract resources from the environment: throw a brick in somebody's window and steal their stuff. Resources extracted. If by 'extract resources' you mean 'get a job and be a law-abiding citizen' then I question whether you have ever tried to rebuild a life from absolutely nothing while staying inside the confines of the law. It might be harder than you think.

[posterboy]

Fair points, except I was thinking of technological supremacy, specifically the ability to build an aqueduct and that has to come before. It's supposed to be a metaphor for mind over matter and the asymmetry of life that has to be tolerated. Toll~ literally means to account, more or less, so I am not saying bigcorp exploitation was acceptable.

On skeptical, German has different grammar, but we share a large part of the vocabulary. Sometimes I have problems learning Idioms, other times I am unwilling to accept them because I think they are corrupt. I like talking semantics. Of course, the grammar has to be fit for that, so thank you. And please stop insulting other people on here. Don't take anything I say too serious, I am just bored and trying to get into a conversation, which is sad enough.