Wow, this a thousand times. It's so incredibly frustrating to have discussions about stuff like this with people who don't have the same knee-jerk mistrust of the patent system that I do. I'm not saying my reaction is right, just that it'll be nice to have something to point too and say "told ya so...". Of course, the people I know who don't think that the patent system is broken are probably the people who don't necessarily know/trust the EFF.
Many (most?) people believe in authority more than they believe in explanations. They watch TV everyday, and TV displays a tremendous amount of authority (all those expert guests in suits).
"Patents sucks" is a contrarian opinion in this environment. Without a proper-looking authority to back that up, no amount of explanation will ever convince those people. They will just assume there "must be a reason" for this, even if they don't understand it.
The alternative is to teach them how to think. This will take time.
