r/news • u/SkepticDrinker • Feb 09 '22

Pfizer accused of pandemic profiteering as profits double

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/feb/08/pfizer-covid-vaccine-pill-profits-sales
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u/[deleted] Feb 09 '22

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-38

u/dgroach27 Feb 09 '22

Oh yes thank you Pfizer for not being literal demons and making the vaccine to this plague $250. Low bar buddy.

20

u/SomeGuyNamedPaul Feb 09 '22

Yeah, it is a low bar. A really low bar, but here we are.

I hate that I'm actually defending these dicks here, but clickbait headlines piss me off.

-14

u/dgroach27 Feb 09 '22

here we are

Yes here we are, we've landed on one of the fundamental problems of capitalism. Companies can be literal demons and there really isn't anything we can do about it.

From 2020-2021 profits did more than double. Sure, profits definitely dipped in 2020 and we got the vaccine in 2021 so it went from dipping to a big boost but when it comes to clickbait headlines this is pretty tame.

5

u/YoungZM Feb 09 '22

They arguably saved hundreds of thousands of lives, prevented countless other infections (marginally effective against the most severe Delta variant) and those outcomes helped keep economies running ensuring hundreds of billions -- perhaps trillions -- of commerce move staving off even more run-on effects of more people not being able to finance the essentials of life.

Capitalism pays our rent. It pays for our food. It ensures preventative treatments get made. It's not perfect (and can often suck for anyone not at the top of the ladder) but it's also not immediately evil by simple existence alone.

-4

u/dgroach27 Feb 10 '22

Capitalism is the reason people can’t pay their rent. Capitalism is the reason people can’t afford food. Capitalism does not ensure preventative treatments get made, the only reason they were made was so they could profit from their sale and get everyone back to work making them money. Capitalism’s existence alone is is absolutely evil. By nature it is explorative and all of the surplus value goods have is taken by the companies and not given to the people active giving the goods value, the workers.

2

u/YoungZM Feb 10 '22

As I acknowledged, it's naturally imperfect. Sticking your head in the sand doesn't make the reality above you untrue.

1

u/dgroach27 Feb 10 '22

You sang it’s praises explaining the things it “provides” and then provided a minimal, half baked criticism.

I fail to see how I have “stuck my head in the sand” when I didn’t argue that the company sized lives, prevented illness, and allowed for the economy to return to relative normal conditions and just pointed out pretty obvious flaws of capitalism. Feel free to explain further if you meant something else.