Pfizer has been accused of “bullying” Latin American govts in COVID-19 vaccine negotiations ...
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Even as somebody who is economically conservative it seems clear to me that a company shouldn't be able to put entire governments and people's lives at risk in this way just so they can cash in some extra $$.
I guess that one of my old teachers in Venezuela was right when he kept banging on about how we needed to be more self sufficient in Latin America and not depend on Western medicine and devices. I used to disagree. I have reconsidered my position on this matter and now believe that most countries should have enough self sufficiency to develop their own tech, not necessarily to the same standard as USA/UK/EU/JN, etc.. but at least good enough that if somebody tries to bully us we can depend on our own stuff and not be forced to just give in to all their demands.
Probably unfeasible in the short-mid time frame but perhaps in the next 50-70 years if high quality education and infrastructure reaches our Barrios then we'll see more local startups and innovation.
https://science.thewire.in/health/pfizer-demands-governments-gamble-with-state-assets-to-secure-vaccine-deal/
@jmw150 Hmm. That's somewhat true. If you live in a big city you probably have internet access but in more rural places it can be more difficult due to electricity being very inconsistent and you can go several hours and sometimes days without it. Also, at least in Venezuela not long ago (around 2012), less than 50% of population had access to internet and just because you have access to it doesn't mean it's reliable, on top of that, the Gov nationalized internet service with "CanTV" and it's basically utter shit + they censor the crap out of it.
I guess a much cheaper version of Elon's Starlink + consistent electric grid would could solve this issue and once you have widespread easy internet it's fair game for all in terms of information availability as you mentioned.
@zpartacoos well there is common internet access now. At least knowledge access is not the problem.