What I hate most about Capitalism: capitalizing off of suffering rather than trying to stop it.

What I hate most about Capitalism: capitalizing off of suffering rather than trying to stop it., a photo by thepetecom on Flickr.

I spotted the above-capped article a couple weeks ago (here: online.barrons.com/article/SB5000142405274870383750457719... ) and found it incredibly depressing. It talks about how the prostate cancer market is set to expand by eight times (!) between now and 2020 and encourages investments in new treatments for prostate cancer. First, this a depressing reminder of how the only time cancer gets mainstream news coverage is when it's an investment opportunity. Second, this is proof that the free market doesn't work as a support system for humanity. The medical industry should be finding a way to cure cancer, not allowing it to exist so more money can be made--and that's literally what this article does by leaving out any mention of the fight against prostate cancer and treating this as simply an investment opportunity.

When did we forget that Capitalism (along with the economy, itself) is a tool to make our lives easier? The original idea is that Capitalism is a system to make the transfer of goods and services more orderly and even more fair. Now, most of us treat Capitalism like a living thing with a right to exist--not only do most of us never consider alternatives to it, we don't even question it's legitimacy. I remember after People Magazine included advertisements in their 911 commemorative issue, published in September of 2001, I posted criticisms online which were met with others defending People Magazine by saying, among other things,: "They've got to make a living!"

As though exploiting the horrors of that day (not weeks old yet!) was 100% acceptable. My answer then was that, no, they didn't have to make a living that way. Years earlier I remember hearing a news report announcing "Good news for Phillip Morris investors!"

Yes, that's right, people have gotten rich off of investments made in addicting people to cigarettes. Once again, I ask: what is wrong with our priorities?

from a post at thepete.com