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I think it's totally fair to blame the FDA, as it's a monopoly. No entrepreneur is allowed to compete with them and they have no obligation to the consumer -- t

I think it's totally fair to blame the FDA, as it's a monopoly. No entrepreneur is allowed to compete with them and they have no obligation to the consumer -- their only obligations are to politicians. So naturally the costs are sky high and their services don't align with what the consumer wants. "Peoples lives matter" is meaningless nonsense, and even taken at face value does not imply standards should be high. Remember that high costs and overly restrictive rules introduce delays and prevent drugs from reaching the consumer, and people are harmed and die because of this. How do we know when the FDA procedures are too restrictive? Well, we can't! Only the consumer can make those tradeoffs for him/herself and communicate their needs and desires via their preferences when selecting products where there are alternatives. With the FDA being a government monopoly there is no such feedback loop, so we just don't know how well their procedures actually align with what the people need. It's depressing to see how many Americans believe that if something "matters" the only option is to have the government micromanage it. If you're not American then I understand, of course.

jorblumesea 6y ago
How could there not be a monopoly on public safety? The state and the government should have the final word on all things public safety related. Trusting private corporations or companies with public safety is insane. It's sad and hilarious that Americans truly believe that the government, who is accountable to the electorate, should be somehow disabused of those role simply because it doesn't work as well as they'd like. You know, instead of reforming it or fixing the problems we have. The Libertarian "let the free market work" is just complete garbage and history has shown time and time again this doesn't work and will never work.
- michaniskin 6y ago
  > How could there not be a monopoly on public safety? Easily. Simply allow the private sector to provide the services currently under the exclusive domain of the FDA, for example. > Trusting private corporations or companies with public safety is insane. I agree 100%. However, companies are not in a position to provide public safety anyway. It's consumers who make up the public, through their choices, who provide for the public safety. They are perfectly capable of being safe without needing the government to interfere in their affairs. > You know, instead of reforming it or fixing the problems we have. What's really sad here is the belief that if only we had smarter experts in Washington D.C. they could make the perfect set of rules to regulate everyone's lives, and we would not have any problems. This is utterly naive, and is quite impossible in practice. No matter how smart an expert is, they simply can't know enough to make the optimal balance for you or me. They don't know anything about my life, so how could they evaluate all the trade-offs to make optimal choices for me? There are just too many variables and life is too dynamic. This is exactly why free markets are great, they provide the distributed feedback that democracy can't. Individuals are free to choose the services and goods that provide the most value, and collectively these preference signals propagate through the market to guide producers, who are in turn free to innovate and create new services they think I will prefer. This "invisible hand" guides the interactions of millions of people across the globe, but it requires freedom. Wherever there is a free market we see innovation and prosperity. The evidence is all around you.

jorblumesea 6y ago

How could there not be a monopoly on public safety? The state and the government should have the final word on all things public safety related. Trusting private corporations or companies with public safety is insane. It's sad and hilarious that Americans truly believe that the government, who is accountable to the electorate, should be somehow disabused of those role simply because it doesn't work as well as they'd like. You know, instead of reforming it or fixing the problems we have. The Libertarian "let the free market work" is just complete garbage and history has shown time and time again this doesn't work and will never work.

michaniskin 6y ago
> How could there not be a monopoly on public safety? Easily. Simply allow the private sector to provide the services currently under the exclusive domain of the FDA, for example. > Trusting private corporations or companies with public safety is insane. I agree 100%. However, companies are not in a position to provide public safety anyway. It's consumers who make up the public, through their choices, who provide for the public safety. They are perfectly capable of being safe without needing the government to interfere in their affairs. > You know, instead of reforming it or fixing the problems we have. What's really sad here is the belief that if only we had smarter experts in Washington D.C. they could make the perfect set of rules to regulate everyone's lives, and we would not have any problems. This is utterly naive, and is quite impossible in practice. No matter how smart an expert is, they simply can't know enough to make the optimal balance for you or me. They don't know anything about my life, so how could they evaluate all the trade-offs to make optimal choices for me? There are just too many variables and life is too dynamic. This is exactly why free markets are great, they provide the distributed feedback that democracy can't. Individuals are free to choose the services and goods that provide the most value, and collectively these preference signals propagate through the market to guide producers, who are in turn free to innovate and create new services they think I will prefer. This "invisible hand" guides the interactions of millions of people across the globe, but it requires freedom. Wherever there is a free market we see innovation and prosperity. The evidence is all around you.