This weekly roundup thread is intended for all culture war posts. 'Culture war' is vaguely defined, but it basically means controversial issues that fall along set tribal lines. Arguments over culture war issues generate a lot of heat and little light, and few deeply entrenched people ever change their minds. This thread is for voicing opinions and analyzing the state of the discussion while trying to optimize for light over heat.
Optimistically, we think that engaging with people you disagree with is worth your time, and so is being nice! Pessimistically, there are many dynamics that can lead discussions on Culture War topics to become unproductive. There's a human tendency to divide along tribal lines, praising your ingroup and vilifying your outgroup - and if you think you find it easy to criticize your ingroup, then it may be that your outgroup is not who you think it is. Extremists with opposing positions can feed off each other, highlighting each other's worst points to justify their own angry rhetoric, which becomes in turn a new example of bad behavior for the other side to highlight.
We would like to avoid these negative dynamics. Accordingly, we ask that you do not use this thread for waging the Culture War. Examples of waging the Culture War:
-
Shaming.
-
Attempting to 'build consensus' or enforce ideological conformity.
-
Making sweeping generalizations to vilify a group you dislike.
-
Recruiting for a cause.
-
Posting links that could be summarized as 'Boo outgroup!' Basically, if your content is 'Can you believe what Those People did this week?' then you should either refrain from posting, or do some very patient work to contextualize and/or steel-man the relevant viewpoint.
In general, you should argue to understand, not to win. This thread is not territory to be claimed by one group or another; indeed, the aim is to have many different viewpoints represented here. Thus, we also ask that you follow some guidelines:
-
Speak plainly. Avoid sarcasm and mockery. When disagreeing with someone, state your objections explicitly.
-
Be as precise and charitable as you can. Don't paraphrase unflatteringly.
-
Don't imply that someone said something they did not say, even if you think it follows from what they said.
-
Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.
On an ad hoc basis, the mods will try to compile a list of the best posts/comments from the previous week, posted in Quality Contribution threads and archived at /r/TheThread. You may nominate a comment for this list by clicking on 'report' at the bottom of the post and typing 'Actually a quality contribution' as the report reason.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
Some pretty impressive news: YouTuber and author John Green, known for his channel vlogbrothers and for being one of the founders of the educational channel Crash Course, as well his his books such as the Fault in Our Stars, recently made a video advocating that pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson shouldn't extend their patent on the drug bedaquiline that's used to treat tuberculosis. It's used to treat millions, and saves the lives of many. But it is fairly expensive. And his video and call for his fanbase to bombard Johnson & Johnson to stop worked! They did still extend the patent, but they've allowed for the sale of generics in low and middle income countries that would otherwise struggle to afford it. This is quite possibly the single most influential campaign from an internet influencer ever in terms of lives saved.
The original video: https://youtube.com/watch?v=tMhgw5SW0h4
It isn’t uncommon for drug companies to sell at a much lower price on patent drugs to low income countries.
Many drugs (at least historically) have a very low marginal cost but a reasonably large average cost due to large costs associated with R&D. The holy grail in such situations is price discrimination. You want to sell at a high price to people who are willing to pay a high price but at closer to the marginal cost people who won’t pay the high price.
Selling at a lower cost to low income countries is one way to price discriminate.
At least in India, for high impact drugs, the government explicitly tells foreign manufacturers that they have the choice to drop local prices to bearable levels, or the drug in question will simply be reverse engineered and sold as a generic.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link