Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Big Pharma prices, profits soar

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Saturday, January 7, 2017

Big Pharma prices, profits soar

Click here to access article by Betsey Piette from Workers World.

Affecting all population sectors in the U.S., the costs of prescription medicines are skyrocketing, fueled by the pharmaceutical industry’s greed and monopoly control of the market.

The capitalist ruling class will only allow passage of legislation that helps working people if it will benefit their corporation's profits. Although Social Security was forced on them by activists during the dark days of the Great Depression, our ruling masters soon learned how to "borrow" money from this fund to support their many wars and tax cuts for their rich members. As this article reports, the programs of Medicare, Medicaid, along with the Affordable Care Act have been used to enrich the owners of pharmaceutical corporations.