[ExI] Why is "cost of living" such a big problem?

Sun Nov 8 18:42:47 UTC 2026

How do you get Europeans, or the rest of the world for that, to pay more
for medicines developed in the US? You set a price that you are willing to
accept for your product and then if there is enough overlap between your
requested price and the buyers willingness to pay then Hey! 'you got a
sale.
Capitalism 101.
Set the price as needed to get sufficient income wealth etc. etm.

If the overlap between production and demand doesn't immediately match then
you start dealing and maybe come to an agreement and then Hey! you got a
sale!
Without agreement on price, you have no sale and the buyer have no
product.
Everyone sad and poor.
Capitalism 101.

Since India buys US developed medicine for a price that they are willing to
pay and the US are willing to sell at, then the market works.
This is Capitalism 101 and also in perfect agreement with the extropian
principles.
Also with libertarian principles and even with socialist principles (shock
and gasp!)

That patients in India, Pakistan,  China, Sweden, kongo and som other
developing countries pay less than for the same substances than a patient
in the US is not a market failure, it is a regulation failure and a sign of
incompetence.

Regulation failure since the drug market in capitalistic USA is less driven
by a free market than the drug market in socialist Sweden.

Incompetence since Why the Fuck! do you tolerate that shit?

/Henrik

Den sön 8 nov. 2026 16:08spike jones via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> skrev:

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> *From:* John Clark <johnkclark at gmail.com>
> *Sent:* Sunday, 8 November, 2026 5:38 AM
> *To:* ExI chat list <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
> *Cc:* spike at rainier66.com; Ben Zaiboc <benzaiboc at proton.me>
> *Subject:* Re: [ExI] Why is "cost of living" such a big problem?
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> On Sat, Nov 7, 2026 at 6:00 PM spike jones via extropy-chat <
> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
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> This chart is most enlightening:
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> *Spike, how are you able to post charts? Every time that I've tried to
> post a chart or a picture to this list our old steam powered antique web
> server says my post has been rejected because it's too big….*
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> *Take a screen shot or copy/paste into an email to yourself, trim it down
> to just the figure of interest, go into the email to yourself, copy the
> image, paste into the Exi post, switch to graphic mode if it asks.  Notice
> the image is degraded quality, but you can still read the fine print.*
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> *>…And by the way, I'll be damned if I can see how are a chart that shows
> an astronomical increased in hospital costs in the USA strengthens your
> argument that the healthcare system in the USA is so good that it needs
> absolutely positively no changes whatsoever, except perhaps to make things
> a little more difficult for poor people.  *
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> * John K Clark*
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> *It needs changes.  Just not the ones you suggest.  To that point: I don’t
> know how to get Europeans to pay more for yank-developed medications.  *
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> *But consider for instance, if you have ever employed physicians
> assistants, you know they are very good, and they cost a lot less than
> doctors.  Generic drugs cost way less.  You don’t need the name brands.  If
> you wish to experiment with it, try some of the many low-priced viagra
> knockoffs (they work (hey you might as well have fun while you are
> experimenting.))  *
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> *Once you learn how to use the AI tools effectively, such as Doximity,
> that doesn’t cost anything, and you will astonish your own doctors by
> coming in there knowing more about your condition than they do.  Often I
> get asked if I am a doctor.  No, but I am using the same tools they do, and
> I have a lot of time to learn all the details of my specific condition.
> The doctors hafta know everything, but I can study one particular malady
> and know the hell outta that one area, I can know all the latest
> medications, all the terminology, the risks, the likely outcomes.  Doctors
> can do way better with highly informed patients.  I am retired, so I have
> nothing better to do.*
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> *Doctors are not gods.  They know medical things and can prescribe
> medications, but if you look at how they are being tasked, it surprises me
> they are as good as they are.  They seldom get patients who are effective
> communicators for instance.  Well, you know EXACTLY how you feel, I know
> exactly how I feel.  If you can express that to Doximity and find a
> reasonable diagnosis, doctors will follow your lead.  They will bring their
> buddies and students in to talk to you.  Ther terminology is obscure, but
> you can memorize it all.  That’s what they do in medical school: much of it
> is memorizing terminology.  You can get satisfactory results from the yank
> medical system, but it takes effort on the part of the patient.  I do
> recommend getting health insurance.*
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> *spike*
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> _______________________________________________
> extropy-chat mailing list
> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org
> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat
>
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