Mike the Lab Rat wrote: Kieland - you ARE trying to make altruism compulsory if you argue that pharmaceutical companies somehow have an obligation to provide their products at a lower price (despite the investment of time & funds put in) solely because you have decided those products are different from all others and are "owed" to the populace.
Pull your head out of your ass. I'm not asking for you to give up your Dr. any more than I'm asking you to give up your bodyguard. I am only asking for basic health care to be available the same way basic police and fire protection is available.
You want Laissez faire economics? YOU pay for it.
Police and fire protection are government provided and require a lot less education, etc, than medical services. Right now, there is a huge insentive for people to get into medicine. They get paid a lot. In return for this huge paycheck, a future doctor will dedicate approximately 12 years of his or her life in pursuit of it. This gives them the ability to do an incredible job. If they were government employees, where's your guarantee that they will continue to make this much money? If it's still there, watch the tax dollars needed rise (oops, I guess we're still paying that way, eh?). If it's not, watch the quality of health care go down.
