[userbinator]

The problem is from my view, that people have the idea of IP being some sort of the American Dream ingrained in their heads that they can't even reason about anything else.

Maybe it depends on which people you ask, but I don't think the American Dream is about IP at all --- but mostly freedom and independence.

[sircastor]

Deeply entrenched in that freedom is the fantasy of inventing some new miracle product, or supremely popular song or book. It’s protecting the idea that someday I might be the wealthy benefactor of these practices and rules. We see people vote against their interests all the time because of “The American Dream”, and the hope that they might achieve it.

[squigz]

At the heart of the American Dream (and indeed of most Western culture) is the meritocracy - or more specifically the lie of it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_of_meritocracy

[joquarky]

Freedom and independence are propaganda in the same way that high school football coaches tell their players they can get into the NFL if they work hard enough

[wayathr0w]

Right, freedom and independence for the property owners. Whether that property is land, people, or "intellectual" is just as irrelevant to the Dreamer as if that property was obtained by deception or violence.