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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> John Clark <johnkclark@gmail.com> <br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [ExI] Why is “cost of living” such a big problem?<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>On Fri, Nov 6, 2026 at 12:51 PM <<a href="mailto:spike@rainier66.com">spike@rainier66.com</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0in'><div><blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-top:5.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt'><blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0in'><p class=MsoNormal><span class=m-7837096810027653299gmaildefault><i><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>></span></i></span><span class=gmaildefault><i><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>>></span></i></span><span class=m-7837096810027653299gmaildefault><i><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'> </span></i></span><i><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif'>If you consider a drug too expensive, don’t buy it.</span></i><o:p></o:p></p></blockquote></blockquote><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'> <o:p></o:p></p><blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>></span></b><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>></span></b></span><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>…Great choice<span class=m-7837096810027653299gmaildefault> you have given us</span>, don't buy <span class=m-7837096810027653299gmaildefault>the drug</span> and die<span class=m-7837096810027653299gmaildefault> rich</span>,<span class=m-7837096810027653299gmaildefault> or buy it and live in poverty…. John K Clark</span></span></b><o:p></o:p></p></blockquote><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span class=m-7837096810027653299gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'> </span></b></span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span class=gmaildefault><i><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>> </span></i></span><span class=m-7837096810027653299gmaildefault><i><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>But if we defund medical research</span></i></span><span class=gmaildefault><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'> [...]</span></span><o:p></o:p></p></div></blockquote><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>>…OH FOR DARWIN'S SAKE! Why the hell are American consumers and American consumers ALONE responsible for repaying the entire research and development budget for every drug in existence…<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>We aren’t. We have the option to not buy the drugs. Our system is set up to compel medical research investment to come here, for it generates a lot of the kinds of jobs we have in the USA, which generates tax revenue for those who create the system. Notice I am not arguing that it is entirely fair or even optimal for humankind.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>>...But perhaps it's just me, does anybody around here think that Spike's argument is logical, or even coherent?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>I do. I also recognize that the way the USA does medical legal infrastructure is far from libertarian and far from optimal. Ours is the second worst system for supporting medical research, better only than everything else. This explains why so much of it is done here.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>None of my personal investment is in medical research, for the reasons we have discussed here. It is too risky, and if one hits the medication lottery, some feel the company should not try to maximize its profit.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0in'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span class=m-7837096810027653299gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'> </span></b></span><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>> </span></b></span><span class=m-7837096810027653299gmaildefault><i><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif'>John we already know you are not libertarian,</span></i></span><o:p></o:p></p></div></blockquote><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>>…If you are a libertarian then I am not <span class=gmaildefault>o</span>ne. If you are not a libertarian then I am one.<span class=gmaildefault> </span> </span></b><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'> John K Clark<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>Ja, I do occasionally get the vague sense that you and I do not agree on everything politically.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>spike<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>