Evil Capitalists Saving Lives

Money is incentive.  Greed is good.

You may have heard about the hedge fund manager who spent $55 million to buy the rights to some drug that helps people with messed up immune systems.  Things like HIV, malaria, and others.

The cost of one dose went from $13.50 to $750.

All of the socialists, and many conservatives are screaming that this sucks the big one, and something needs to be done.

Lives are at risk!  Babies will die!  Capitalism is evil!

True enough, some lives may be at risk, and some babies might die.  But capitalism is not evil.  In fact, it's what produces all of the "wonder drugs" we have access to today.

Without capitalism - without greed - there are very few people with enough private money that are willing to forego a profit to do the research, testing, approval regime, marketing, manufacturing and distribution of so much as a baby aspirin.

The greedy drug companies must be forced to provide these life-saving drugs for the greater good!

I can just about guarantee you, that is exactly what is going to happen in this case.  Some self-important congressman or senator is going to flap his gums and thump his chest on all of the cable news channels, and get some law passed.

They're gonna bitch-slap this evil capitalist.

Now, some of you so-called conservatives will agree with this confiscation of property.  You're going to justify this by saying that this drug has been around for over 60 years, and he has no right to jack up the price just because he wants to get rich.

How do you think this is going to play in the board rooms of the drug companies and medical equipment innovators that are in the middle of inventing the next miracle drug or device?  Do you think that they're going to invest the billions of dollars it takes to develop their product, THEN to get through all of the bullshit regulations?

Why the hell would they risk their capital if someone - who HASN'T invested billions of dollars - can set the "fair market" price of their product?

They're not going to do it.  And we're all going to suffer for it.

To put a finer point on this, in 1950 (just before this drug was invented) the average US life expectancy was 68.2 years.  In 2010, it was 78.7 years.  Ten and a half more years of life, and a major portion of that can be attributed to the drugs and equipment that are now available to cure everything from AIDS to high cholesterol.

You disagree that their greed has extended your life?  Then throw out every damned drug in your household.  Not just some, but every damned one, to show how principled an individual you really are.

And while you're at it, the next time you're seriously ill, be sure to refuse treatment from the MRI's and CT scans, the heart stents, the dialysis machines, et al.  Someone built those to make a dirty, disgusting profit, and you don't want to be a hypocrite, right?

Capitalism and Freedom spawn innovation and advancement.  Socialism and Statism destroy them.

The "Greater Good" benefits from individual greed.

Risk begets reward.  Mess with that equation, and you're literally messing with your life.

***

Let me nip this in the bud right now:  OK, Chief, you'd be singing a different tune if you or your family had to pay these exorbitant prices!

Actually, no I wouldn't.  I would find a way to pay for it.  You see, I have not allowed myself to become dependent on The State for my well-being.  I assume that some shit like this WILL happen to me, and I've planned for that.

Would I be pissed off?  Oh, hell yes!  But I sure as hell wouldn't sit wallowing in my tears waiting for The State to fix my problem.  I'd find a solution.

I hope I'd remember an incident that I just witness with my own eyes:  A friend and partner recently died.

And he was brought back from the dead.  His heart had to be restarted 3 times.  For 20 minutes, they poked, shocked and provided air to his unresponsive body as it lay on his bedroom floor.  In the hospital, after viewing an MRI of his heart, they found his main cardiac artery was 100% clogged.  They inserted a stent in his heart, and restored blood flow.

Due to the combination of technology, drugs and medical expertise, he was home 6 days after this heart attack - a heart attack from which he would not have survived only 10 years ago.  He was back at work 14 days after he had died.

I'm pretty sure he's OK with the capitalist system that invented the drugs and equipment that restored his life.  You should be, too.



---
Share this post! Click the Twitter, Facebook or Google+ icon below, and let your friends know!
Copyright 2015 Bison Risk Management Associates. All rights reserved. Please note that in addition to owning Bison Risk Management, Chief Instructor is also a partner in a precious metals business. You are encouraged to repost this information so long as it is credited to Bison Risk Management Associates. www.BisonRMA.com