Sheldon Richman, author of the foregoing paragraph, is a "senior fellow" at The Future of Freedom Foundation. Here's a bit of their creed based upon their utopian interpretation of America's founding.

The United States was founded on the principles of individual freedom, free markets, private property, and limited government. As the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution reflect, individuals have the natural and God-given right to live their lives any way they choose, so long as their conduct is peaceful. It is the duty of government to protect, not destroy, these inherent and inalienable rights.

Thus, for well over a century, the American people said "No" to such anti-free-market government policies as income taxation, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, welfare, immigration controls, economic regulations, drug laws, gun control, public schooling, and foreign wars.

The root of this sophism is in taking the shades of gray that comprise reality, and through simplistic abstraction, turning issues into black and white decision points, ignoring the variety of factors and circumstances. The worst philosophy is that which ignores practicality, ignores trade-offs.

Consider the notion of intellectual property rights as spurious.

Build a family business over the years, establishing a reputation for quality. How to protect from someone else taking that name for their own products or services, and running it into the ground through shabby and deceitful business practices? In other words, how to protect copying hard-won goodwill, robbing creators of their fruits? Consider trademarks.

Artistic works, such as musical compositions, novels, and paintings, are the product of individuals who labored for years to attain skills that allow creation of artifacts of beauty. How to protect from someone else copying artworks and selling them on the cheap, robbing creators of their fruits? Consider copyrights.

Progress is defined by technological innovation, advancement of the technical arts. From the wheel to the word processor - invention. Some inventions take years and mountains of capital to realize, such as new drugs, while others are mere strokes of inspired problem solving, as is often the case with software. But even mere inspired strokes, like artistic works, are the product of skilled and creative minds. How to protect from someone else copying inventions, robbing creators of their fruits? Consider patents.

Fittingly, trademarks only lapse through neglect. Both copyright and patent protection have a limited duration, as a means to enable creators to have a chance to reap the rewards of their investments, before the creations enter into the public domain, forever adding to the legacy that defines the glories of human achievement - in a word, art. Intellectual property rights protect the creation of art.