World is Falling Apart Thread (Locked forever)

[MrPopo]

I'm not sure what they think the end scenario is for them.

[Exhuminator]

I'm not sure what they think the end scenario is for them.

Either one of two things:

(1) China will always have their back, and will continuously protect them from the evil west. So NK is allowed to shit talk and troll with impunity. No western power will ever call their bluff.

(2) If a nuke is ever launched at North Korea, Kim Jong-un will sound the supreme gong. This will awaken the sleeping god leaders; Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. Both will come down from the heavens with an infinite nuke spewing mecha hydra (three heads), which is impervious to all forms of assault. In addition, it will lay an egg of invincibility inconceivably large enough that it will safely house all of North Korea within its shell. With these powers combined, all three supreme leaders will join forces riding atop one hydra head each. Perched above the supreme leader mecha dragon, they will insure NK will rule the world at last.

[Ack]

As terrible as it would be to be ruled by North Korea, scenario 2 is pretty bad ass.

Also...Who threatens Australia? I mean seriously?

[marurun]

Mylar's EpiPen price hike? Sanofi claims it was part of an anti-competitive scheme to push competition out of the market.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/04 ... its-worse/

I'm starting to wonder if we should require medical and health companies be limited to non-profit or B corporation status. The profit motive has destroyed the ability of companies to actually prioritize helping patients.

[Ack]

It might also be worth asking who are the largest shareholders in Mylar. Corporations often make greedy decisions due to overeager and greedy shareholders.

[marurun]

It might also be worth asking who are the largest shareholders in Mylar. Corporations often make greedy decisions due to overeager and greedy shareholders.

But any publicly owned corporation is susceptible to this. I believe there are certain industries that are critical enough to national welfare and security that the companies that operate in those spaces should be insulated against their own shareholders, effectively, or simply not allowed to have them.

[Ack]

So what industries fall under this personal umbrella?

[marurun]

That's a good question. Right now I'm mostly concerned with companies responsible for producing medicine and medical goods, but that could be construed to include certain utilities or even key defense contractors.

I recognize this isn't going to happen, but it concerns me that we allow some companies to behave the way they do given their important to, say, public health, especially given their reliance on government-funded research, research that wouldn't happen without public-provided funding.

[marurun]

This article at Medium ties in to this discussion of Mylar's behavior. It looks at entrepreneurship and posits the problem with the US economy is too much focus on the economy and not enough focus on the effect on democracy.

[MrPopo]

Pretty good writeup. I'm glad to see that he's not condemning the current actions of various businesses; as he points out it's the rational thing for them to do. He correctly gets that businesses don't have a moral sense and it's up to regulations and incentives to guide their behavior.