I am beyond weary of arguments that compare digital goods with physical goods, those made of atoms instead of zeros-and-ones. Physical goods are what economists call “rival goods” and they are “rival” because they can’t be consumed by two people simultaneously. Thus, if I have an apple, you can’t eat it unless you persuade me to give it to you (via a threat or a bribe). If I have checked out the only copy of a book at the library, you have to wait for me to return it.
When I worked in the cooperative movement in the 1980s, I remember one of the David’s (Thomas or Simpson?) from the American Institute of Cooperation explaining cooperative philosophy to young farmers and high schoolers like this:
I have a dollar, and you have a dollar. We swap. Neither of us is richer.
I have an idea, and you have an idea. We swap. Both of us are richer.
