The point was that both are morally wrong and I still keep doing it.

I don’t feel like defending a view that I don’t hold. I don’t get the sense from your replies that you’ve even understood my argument.

Without the current economic model, no-one would pay for big budget productions

I haven’t said that.

It doesn’t, as you imply, reduce the likelihood of big budget media existing in the future

I haven’t said that either.

a centralised fund we all contribute to in proportion to our means

Correct me if I’m wrong but that sounds a lot like paying for the content

many small scale investors… …like Kickstarter

This sounds like paying for the content too.

a legislated solution that protects copyright until artists are sufficiently recompensed

Recompensed? Sounds like getting paid.

To me it seems like there’s no disagreement here.

I stand by what I said: if everyone pirated, no one would be making or funding big-budget movies because there would be no money to be made. Coming up with alternative payment systems for the media we consume is all well and good, but that’s not piracy - it actually just reinforces my point about paying being the moral thing to do. My argument isn’t that the current system is good; it’s that piracy wouldn’t be sustainable if everyone started doing it.

I think it’s objectively a true statement that the vast majority of big budget hollywood movies, video games and TV-series would stop existing if nobody was paying for them.

Obviously not all media would go away. I’ve never gotten paid for my photography or YouTube videos because I’m not making them for money. Same applies to a ton of other content creators as well.

The only reason there’s content for us to pirate is because there are still people paying for it. If it weren’t for them, nobody would be spending millions on new movies or games. They’re the ones funding our content, and we’re just freeriding.

I think a good measure for morality is to imagine wether the world would be a better place if everyone acted as I do. In this case, I don’t think it would.

I think piracy is immoral but I still partake in it and I don’t hate anyone for doing so.

It’s like eating meat.

The number of leaves depends on the age of the plant. There are ones with one and three leaves as well. However I’ve never seen a leaf with a bud in the middle like on the left.

When speaking of memes, most people think of internet memes. The likes of which this and every other meme community is full of. That’s not what Dawkins means by a meme. What he means by it is a cultural analog to genes. A trait that passes from person to person as an idea or behavior. Shaking hands would an example of such meme.

Internet meme on the other hand generally comes in the form of a picture which is funny, ironic or relateable.

The vast majority of posts on this community are internet memes that don’t fit that definition.

I didn’t know it had a name. Thanks!

That’s my issue with people saying stuff like “I can immediately tell when a picture is made with AI and I hate how they look”

Your assesment doesn’t take into account all the false negatives. You have no idea how many pictures have tricked you already. By definition, the picture is badly made if you can immediately tell it’s AI. That’s a bit like seeing the most flamboyantly gay person on the street and thinking all gays look like that and you can always spot them while the closeted friend you’re with flies perfectly under the radar.