Earlier quoted context omitted.
or, you know, an insulated, spoiled kid. but that would require empathy
He grew up poor.
The two are not mutually exclusive, but point taken
Martin Shkreli indictment [pdf]
171–180 of 182 posts
Re: Martin Shkreli indictment [pdf]
#172Earlier quoted context omitted.
FYI, the "fire in a crowded theater" phrase comes from Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. in Schenck v. United States [1]. Writing for the majority (actually it was a unanimous decision), Holmes wrote: The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic. Many people nod their heads at this example, but they forget that Holmes was using it to j…
The idea that the history of a phrase or word dictates its meaning is patently absurd. If that were the case, you would be equally appalled by a man calling himself an "ordinary guy"… which comes from Guy Fawkes, a failed 17th century religious terrorist.
I don't think that's the same at all. I gave an example of a unique phrase where people agree with the original sentiment –even the exact words– of Holmes, only to backtrack when they discover what those words were used to justify. Your example is a single word whose various meanings are now completely disconnected from Guy Fawkes or religious extremism.
Re: Martin Shkreli indictment [pdf]
#173Earlier quoted context omitted.
I sure don't? Mind not being cryptic? Are we really going to have this stupid god damn conversation again? Threatening speech is not protected. Acting like a fucking jackass might be protected speech but it doesn't protect you from the forum of public opinion. Ironically, pretty much everytime I see someone whining about free speech, they're talking about it non-governmental contexts... the ultimate irony of you tell…
we don't jail people for being "slightly sociopathic" "assholes", we jail them for breaking the law. Attempting to construe someone's unrelated speech, even as sociopathic as it may come off, as justification for jailing them (remember, for securities fraud ) is terribly dishonest and a very dangerous slippery slope. Also, by the way, threatening speech is technically protected under the first amendment [1]. Dunno wh…
So it's a great thing that the SEC investigation began over a year ago.
>Doubly so to make such a judgement based off a small sampling of online commentary.
Just because you're ignorant about Martin doesn't mean the rest of us are. I just am absolutely aghast at you keeping this up. Just go Google him, read a couple articles and get over it. Stop acting like this is some secret accusation that you don't have the evidence for.
>Dunno why you brought up the government/public opinion topic.
Because "Free speech" has fuck all to do with anything being discussed in this thread? Unless you're really saying that this investigation that began before he was ever in the news is about "silencing" Martin.
Seriously, do you know a single thing about him or his company?
I'm sorry I said he was slightly sociopathic. Let me rephrase "He has, on multiple occasions, acted similarly to how classic sociopaths act". ...... yeah, everyone cool now?
>We should all strive to be empathetic and employ a principle of charity when making such judgements, especially before we know the facts.
And I should empathize with The Westboro Baptist Church and try to "understand" them instead of just investing in efforts that oppose them, eh? I'm tired of this "you have to tolerate intolerance or you're just as bad" and all this other hand-wavey bullshit that is completely pointless. I know everything I need to know to conclude that Martin is a disreputable person that I wouldn't be caught dead with. I think he has a huge ego and treats people very poorly. There are plenty of examples of all of these things.
Re: Martin Shkreli indictment [pdf]
#174Seriously disappointing news. Shkreli seemed like such an obvious troll in how he defended his price gouging by saying that a CEO's role is to maximize profit for the benefit of shareholders...and yet did so in such an unnecessarily obnoxious way that if he truly were the uber-capitalist, he would know that bragging and drawing attention to what an asshole you are does not achieve the true capitalist goal. I would've…
So, if not a troll / performance artist, what is he then? Just a very stupid person with a bloated ego? How does someone so stupid make it to CEO of a pharmaceutical company at 32?
> How does someone so stupid make it to CEO of a pharmaceutical company at 32?
Same way as anyone else: meritocracy!
Re: Martin Shkreli indictment [pdf]
#175Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nonetheless, being beat up in jail prior to being convicted of a crime (or after) isn't exactly part of what is supposed to be a fair judicial system. We ought not to punish people for merely being accused of or indicted for a crime. Today it's this asshole, tomorrow it could be you.
People have really forgotten that its supposed to be "innocent until proven guilty". Too many people have faith in the judicial system. I wish they would all have to defend themselves, just once, from an unsubstantiated criminal charge. They would find out, very quickly, just how scary the system can be.
My lawyer friends tell me it is actually "innocent until proven broke" -- lucky for him, this guy has that area covered.
Re: Martin Shkreli indictment [pdf]
#176Earlier quoted context omitted.
>My first reaction to his arrest was joy and then I saw comments about him getting "beat up in jail" to put it lightly. >People who say those kinds of things are no better than him. Possibly worse. If wishing bad things would happen to someone who has done bad things and actually raising the price of AIDS drugs fiftyfold to get rich are anywhere near each other in your moral calculus, I'm terrified of your moral calc…
The way I imagine it, rather than getting beaten up, the guy is simply held down and cut once with a razor. The other inmates take turns spitting into his wound and saying, "I wish I could afford the medications that keep my HIV under control. And now you do, too." But I just imagine that. It's not like I would ever attempt to actually set up such a thing. Or I imagine that he goes in, and most everyone is kept segre…
I felt sick reading that, I think you need to get yourself checked out.
Re: Martin Shkreli indictment [pdf]
#177Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Like Morgan on the Walking Dead. I do believe Martin is a good guy on the wrong path. Not sure how you can defend that with this floating around. I’m definitely the real fucking deal. This is not a fucking act. I threatened that fucking guy and his fucking kids because he fucking took $3 million from me and he ended up paying me back. He called my bluff. He said, “You’re not fucking going to go after me.” [I said] “…
Him being of albanian background, I wouldn't be suprised if he was connected to underground as well, specially seing him threatening people like this. This is definitely their style.
The guy was brought up in the US. Deducing that he's connected to underground based on his parent's origin is mental. If anything, the hyper-macho behavior is result of American upbringing.
He obviously is somehow obsessed with the Wu-Tang Clan, so I'd guess his life philosophy is a based on a combination of rap gangsters and wall street traders. Both very American. Sorry for oversimplifying.
Re: Martin Shkreli indictment [pdf]
#178Earlier quoted context omitted.
Him being of albanian background, I wouldn't be suprised if he was connected to underground as well, specially seing him threatening people like this. This is definitely their style.
The guy was brought up in the US. Deducing that he's connected to underground based on his parent's origin is mental. If anything, the hyper-macho behavior is result of American upbringing. He obviously is somehow obsessed with the Wu-Tang Clan, so I'd guess his life philosophy is a based on a combination of rap gangsters and wall street traders. Both very American. Sorry for oversimplifying.
Albanian is tribal organization and no wonder he would find role models in asian gangs. I can't know but seems likely to me that he picked up a lot of this at home.
Re: Martin Shkreli indictment [pdf]
#179Earlier quoted context omitted.
The way I imagine it, rather than getting beaten up, the guy is simply held down and cut once with a razor. The other inmates take turns spitting into his wound and saying, "I wish I could afford the medications that keep my HIV under control. And now you do, too." But I just imagine that. It's not like I would ever attempt to actually set up such a thing. Or I imagine that he goes in, and most everyone is kept segre…
I felt sick reading that, I think you need to get yourself checked out.
It's not any worse than Dante Alighieri's Inferno, or the mythic punishments for Sisyphus, Tantalus, Prometheus, or Loki. Nor is it as tediously psychological as Sartre's No Exit (Huis Clos).
I assure you, I am well aware of the boundary between fact and fiction. I am actually a bit worried that you find words and imagination to be cause for concern. That fear leads to censorship, which is far worse than any of the fantasy blurbs I have ever written.
My real-life hope for Shkreli is that he will be very, very bored for about three to four years (if convicted), and that all the folks he (allegedly) defrauded are able to get some restitution. He doesn't even need to be beaten with meaty thug fists. He just needs to be kept away from productive workers and other people's money. And maybe also the cocaine.
Re: Martin Shkreli indictment [pdf]
#180Earlier quoted context omitted.
Price gouging might be bad but the alternative is worse. If you allow the market to set the price of a limited resource, that resource will be allocated to those who truly need it. If you set the price so that "everyone" can afford the resource, you create a shortage and those who truly need the resource might or might not get it depending on how lucky/early they got in line.
Really, you think that $13 per pill was a worse situation? That there was an epidemic of people out there paying $13 a pill for antiprotozoal medications who don't truly need them?
Isn't that obvious? The $13 price point set up the situation for a corporate raider to take over and drastically change the price. If the price point had been higher, the company would have been more valuable and less susceptible to a takeover.
Unintended consequences are a bitch.