[koolba]

So who's the real crook?

Is it the sleazebag who legally takes advantage of the terrible system that we refer to as the US health insurance system?

Or is it the 435 representatives and 100 senators who are in the pockets of the insurance companies and pharma companies that perpetuate our current system?

At a moral level, yes the guy is as bad as they come (and those youtube videos of him are just plain weird). But I'd argue he's not the cause of our problems, he's a product of the system that we've cornered ourselves into.

[gizmo]

He's a real crook in a system that's awful. It's not either-or in my book.

So I agree he's not the root cause. He just pushes the existing framework to its "logical" conclusion. But only if "Logical" means being as ruthlessly exploitative as possible. Even the other sleazebag drug CEOs don't go this far, so Shkreli is uniquely contemptible.

But yes, ideally anger should be directed to the pharma industry and health insurance as a whole, not to Shkreli the individual.

[koolba]

> He's a real crook in a system that's awful. It's not either-or in my book.

The "either-or" is figuring out which one to go after and where to change things. If you only go after the Shkrelis, it's all for show and probably is a waste of tax payer money as he'll get off the hook for not legally doing anything wrong. People need to wake up and go after the real problem and replace the healthcare system and corrupt officials that perpetuate it.

[ZenoArrow]

Why do you only have to go after one side? Both sides (the corruptor and the corrupted) can and should be held accountable. Holding Shkreli accountable is more than just a token gesture, and no charges would've been brought against him if no laws were broken.

[koolba]

I fail to see what laws he's broken. If you're going to allow a "free market" healthcare industry, this is the result. Being a dick isn't a crime. Neither is being a price gouger.

[ZenoArrow]

> "I fail to see what laws he's broken."

Take a look then...

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/these-are-the-charges-again...

[koolba]

> Take a look then...

> http://www.marketwatch.com/story/these-are-the-charges-again....

Did you actually read that article?

It has nothing to do with price gouging prescription drugs. That's for an unrelated securities fraud charge for juggling hedge fund money. I'm not saying he's not at fault in that situation (honestly not sure) but it's unrelated.

[unfamiliar]

Exactly. This guy is such a smug bastard that he makes the perfect lightning rod for the whole country to direct their rage at, deflecting it away from the actual system that allows this to happen.

[adrenalinelol]

While I detest what he did, it's no different than what any other free-market minded individual would do. Our healthcare system is a profit motivated, not patient motivated. He put profits over people, just like every other big phamrma company. He also was a publicity seeking douchebag, so the media had a field day with him.

[ZenoArrow]

In terms of fairness, it's only unfair if we hold some people in the industry to moral standards we don't apply to others. Our choices to maintain fairness are either to hold all economic actors accountable for their actions, or to hold none of the economic actors accountable for their actions. You seem to favour the latter, I favour the former, neither of us is wrong in terms of fairness.