Forbes on FOX Panelists Agree: Bird Flu Vaccine Should Be Sold to Highest Bidders, To Hell with the Vulnerable
Reported by Marie Therese - November 16, 2005
On Saturday [11-12-05] the panelists on Forbes on FOX, hosted by David Asman, actually discussed whether or not the "free market" should apply in the face of a possible avian flu pandemic. Forbes magazine regulars Mark Tatge, Neil Weinberg and Victoria Barrett argued in favor of auctioning off limited supplies of bird flu vaccine to the highest bidders, while Jim Michaels and Dennis Neale disagreed.
I must admit I cringed when I heard the topic, but was stunned that a plurality of these people favored auctioning off precious vaccine to those who have the most money.
Apparently, many at Forbes magazine and FOX News yearn for the good old days of Ebenezer Scrooge, when the rich had everything and the poor - well, letting them die of bird flu might be a good way to depopulate the planet, although you'd have to be sure to save some of them to clean your clothes, scrub your car, massage your feet, curl your hair, fix your food and suckle your babies.
Can somebody please tell me how America has sunk to a point where such a grotesque debate could even occur?
