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275 points swores | 3 comments | | HN request time: 0.448s | source
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FredPret ◴[] No.40173118[source]
Drugs may be overpriced.

There is probably some bloat in drug development. But then again, maybe not. I'm not an expert.

What I do know is that drugs have gotten dramatically better in the short amount of time I've been alive.

The other thing we all know is that the source of this article, The Guardian and their friends, have a shitlist of industries and institutions it loves to hate.

Ask yourself: will they ever write a positive article about a defense contractor, a bank, big pharma, a US billionaire, or a landlord, even if said entity walks on water and then saves a million babies and the penguins and the world?

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notaustinpowers[dead post] ◴[] No.40173519[source]
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FredPret ◴[] No.40174030[source]
> "- Companies that profit from murder."

Holy conspiracy theory batman

> "- Companies that profit billions by charging poor people more money."

Would you prefer that companies that serve poor people stop doing so? Because that would only raise prices for products poor people use. Supply and demand - it's the only sure thing in economics.

> "- Companies that profit by (essentially) extorted thousands of dollars from people with the only other option being death."

The companies created an alternative option to literally dying, and you call this extortion? Would you prefer they not offer this option at all?

> "- A person who profits by underpaying labor and creating false supply/demand."

Underpayment is only possible in some dreamworld. If workers are being underpaid, then by definition they can get better pay by switching jobs. Why aren't they? And if they can't get better pay, then they aren't being underpaid - they're being paid market rates.

> "And get this bud, they don't care about you either! If Northrop Grumann could make $10,000,000 by turning you into a fine red mist they'd push that button before the ink on the check was dry."

The basics of survival are provided by greedy, psychopathic, for-profit cybernetic organisms called corporations.

And life has never been better, especially for the very poorest.

I would suggest that you look at some hard data in this regard, rather than defining your own parallel economic reality in which you can be so very satisfied in your anger.

If you want a hug, Northrop Grumman or your landlord or big pharma just don't do cuddly. Get a dog or a friend. If you want results that are measurable as housing provided, years of life added, or fighter jets built, or tons of wheat produced, then get a corporation.

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1. notaustinpowers ◴[] No.40174144[source]
Tell me, what do defense contractors produce? Because I'm telling you right now Lockheed Martin doesn't make $1.5 billion this quarter by making friends.

I'd prefer that banks stop making billions each year with junk overdraft fees. It's not like $35 is going to change their quarterly earnings but $35 can buy cheap groceries for a week until their next payday.

If they use taxpayer grants and funds to research new drugs then I find that it's only fair to be treated like any other taxpayer-funded thing, make it free or cheap for the public like national parks, USPS, and the DMV. You don't get to socialize the funding and then privatize the profits.

I'm sorry that I dream and hope to work towards of a better future for everyone! Enjoy the "greedy, psychopathic" corporations you seem to fight so hard for. Maybe they'll let you live in their new "utopia" city in California if you bark enough for them.

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2. FredPret ◴[] No.40174274[source]
In each case, you take the most negative aspect of the corporation and blow it out of proportion.

Lockheed Martin makes weapons. Weapons seem like a great thing to have when it's the only thing preventing your country from being invaded. (and by the way, we've never lived in a time with fewer battle deaths per 100k people).

Banks charge overdraft fees. But they also provide secure transactions, storage of value, and they pool capital. This is a critical service without which there'd be no economy at all.

Drug companies are not little angels with perfect behaviour. But without them, a lot of us would currently be dead.

And so on and so on.

We live in a complex world. If you only look for the worst, that's exactly what you'll find. If you look for hard facts, you'll see that there's never been a better time. Perhaps you would then ask - who benefits from keeping you continually outraged? Only the media, and a certain type of politician, and late-night comedy hosts. Certainly not you, and definitely not the rest of the world.

3. nradov ◴[] No.40180078[source]
Bank overdraft fees are entirely optional and preventable. Consumers can turn off overdraft protection on their accounts.

https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/banking/avoid-overdraft-f...