The pandemic has revealed the power of big pharma. Major drug manufacturers and suppliers have the power to set prices, influence regulators and lobby lawmakers. This power has allowed big pharma to push potentially dangerous drugs. How? Palki Sharma tells you.
ERIC SCHECHTER—The USA hasn’t behaved as a “Christian nation.” It is the wealthiest country in the history of the world, but in it many people are poor, homeless, and hungry. You can find one begging on every major street corner. [And the US is the world’s chief purveyor of war, interventions, and regimes that oppose and destroy social justice, the cure for the ills of poverty and inequality.—Ed]
Meanwhile, the rich tell us to trust the market, which they claim is wise. In essence, our present system is worship of the market.
LEAH WATSON—As we reflect on that night, we must remember what ignited these protests. Two months after the murder of George Floyd, on August 23, 2020, Kenosha Police shot a Black man, Jacob Blake, in the back multiple times, paralyzing him. Faced with this latest manifestation of law enforcement’s systemic mistreatment and disregard for the lives of Black and Brown people, people took to the streets of Kenosha. Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth oversaw law enforcement’s response to these protests, including the coordination of over 40 local, state, and federal agencies.
It seems the middle class is scared of a possible indefinite wave of social and economic disruptions. Their instinctive conservatism is kicking in, creating a possible social stasis with no easy resolution. El estallido social de 2019 hizo que las posturas de los ciudadanos se radicalizaran sobre temas como la inseguridad, lo que llevó a que posturas como la José Antonio Kast, pese a ser muchas veces políticamente incorrectas, se popularizaran de cara a las elecciones presidenciales. Les contamos desde Santiago.
The social outburst of 2019 made citizens’ positions radicalize on issues such as insecurity, which led to positions such as José Antonio Kast’s, despite often being politically incorrect, to become popular in the run-up to the presidential elections. We tell you about it from Santiago.
P. GREANVILLE—More than a year into the pandemic and I still find it hard to locate easily digestible facts for what should be a straightforward question: How much is Big Pharma charging for an average vaccine shot? The leading TV journos have pretty much ignored the topic, as if it did not matter, supposedly (I presume that’s their convenient rationale) because the government, as if by magic, is making the jabs free to the public, anyhow. But, friends, without going libertarian, we all know that when the government pays, WE pay, ultimately, because the moneys laid out are our taxes, our money —well so they say. (Contrary to common assumption, the government, which does NOT operate like a household, need not balance the books nor rely on taxes alone for its expenditures).