Big Pharma

After his primary losses before COVID-19 became big news, Bernie Sanders and his socialist rants have thankfully dropped from the news. But far in the background, Bernie's demonization of "Big Pharma," echoes as the COVID-19 virus spreads. This is typical Bernie on the subject:

“How come people can't afford to get the prescription drugs they need because we have a bunch of crooks who are running the pharmaceutical industry ripping us off every single day? And I'll tell you something right now: In the midst of this epidemic, you got people in the pharmaceutical industry are saying, ‘Wow, what an opportunity to make a fortune.”

Like all fervid socialists, Bernie and his Bros wrap themselves in their version of "social justice," suggesting that profit is evil and that corporations can somehow be separated from the millions of people who work for them. They argue that government assistance for corporations in a time of crisis is a "slush fund." Never mind that a corporation that fails would put thousands of middle class wage earners out of work with all the suffering that entails.

In their lunatic world view, socialists believe that government should run the means of production. That would be the very same government that socialists and many progressives criticize on an hourly basis for not doing enough to stop the spread of COVID-19. Somehow, they are incapable of seeing the irony in their position, but socialists are incapable of seeing a lot of important things.

But back to Big Pharma. The Editorial Board of the Wall Street Journal recounts the heroic efforts being made by Big Pharma—Abbott Laboratories, Johnson & Johnson, and dozens of others—to develop therapies and vaccines to combat COVID-19. I suspect that the average American would not begrudge any one (or more) of those companies from making a profit if they developed an effective therapy and/or vaccine that would reduce the effects of the virus and allow America to return to normal. In fact, with the exception of Bernie and a few SJWs, I suspect that they'd cheer for big Pharma if they succeed.

The editors write:

President Trump recently ordered the Food and Drug Administration to “slash red tape like nobody’s ever done before” to make medicines approved for other illnesses available for coronavirus patients. The FDA is famously cautious, and safety is important. But drug regulators need to be more nimble during a pandemic with millions of lives at risk.

The FDA was slow to approve tests by private and public health labs, though recently it has approved a point-of-care test by small diagnostic company Cepheid that can return results in 45 minutes. In the biggest breakthrough so far, Abbott Laboratories has received approval for a test that it says can show positive results in five minutes. The company hopes to start delivering kits this week, ramping up production to 50,000 tests a day.

Big Government is inherently slow and ponderous, bureaucratic and inefficient. And yet, Bernie and his Bros think that it should run healthcare. They believe, against all historical, factual, and anecdotal evidence to the contrary, that if they were in power, things would be different—that big government would be quick and agile, responsive and efficient. And if you are deluded enough to believe that, well ... you're a Bernie Bro.

Capitalism isn't perfect, but it's a hell of lot better, more quick and agile, more responsive and efficient than socialism would ever be. Why? Because capitalism is market driven, and responds to the wisdom of the market. If capitalism makes a mistake, the market punishes it immediately and corrections are made. Socialism, on the other hand, is driven by a central authority that is almost always wrong but doesn't have the humility to recognize and correct its many errors.

UPDATE:
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On a tangentially related subject, there's this commentary (rant?) offered by Kyle Smith:

Far from being killed off by the Wuhan virus, the woke virus is spreading faster than ever. Fran Drescher said on Twitter, “The heart of the problem, all problems with the world at its core is power & greed fueled by Capitalism.” On the contrary, I’m hoping greedy industrial companies can make a couple million ventilators for profit, because otherwise these things aren’t going to get made.

“Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can,” sang Gal Gadot and her Justice League of Idiots on that vomitatious “Imagine” video praising open borders, socialism and atheism in a country where people are praying to God because of a virus unleashed on the world by China’s socialist regime. I doubt Gal goes out for a meal without bringing along a very large man to keep fans at bay, so her personal borders likely begin at about a 3-foot radius around her. But while she sings to us from whatever $10 million palace she’s living in now, she should invite a hundred random citizens of Wuhan to move into her house, then continue to promote her “imagine there’s no countries” ideas.

Woke idiocy has attended every step of the coronavirus outbreak. On Jan. 30, just as it was starting to emerge as a serious worldwide issue, CNN published a huffy piece on President Trump’s health crisis managers that began, “It’s a statement that’s as predictable as it is infuriating: President Donald Trump’s administration lacks diversity.” Oh no, a lot of epidemiologists are white guys. Cancel them. Last week CNN invited notorious Hugo Chavez fanboy Sean Penn in as an expert on crisis management ...

Next year there will probably be a vaccine for coronavirus. But there will never be an inoculation for woke stupidity.