Live Free and Prosper

The Wall Street Journal ^ | June 21, 2026 12:18 pm ET | Andy Kessler

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Socialists claim they haven’t experienced American prosperity. All you have to do is look around.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) wants to confiscate, er, “tax” 50% of the stock of artificial-intelligence companies—the dumbest idea since Karl Marx picked up a pen. Meanwhile, his mind-meld mini-me, millennial Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.), said in 2019 that an entire generation “came of age and never saw American prosperity,” and then whined, “I have never seen that, or experienced it, really, in my adult life.” Really? She must be distracted with only five years to go on her climate-mongering, “world is gonna end” prediction.

Meanwhile, in the real world, the free market is a prosperity dynamo. Has Ms. Ocasio-Cortez heard of Verve-102? Last month’s trial results of Lilly’s one-time gene-editing therapy showed it can lower LDL, “bad cholesterol,” by almost two-thirds. Could this be a heart-attack vaccine? It’s certainly a sign of a prosperous society.

Speaking of gene editing, Columbia University researchers successfully demonstrated base editing of “early human embryos” to replace specific genetic letters. OK, there’s a boatload of moral implications on how this is used. No one wants genetic breeding of 7-foot-4 humans. But the ability to identify and eliminate debilitating diseases—for example, hereditary blindness—is nothing short of amazing.

Meanwhile, the march of the GLP-1 agonist wonder drugs continues. Ozempic and Wegovy are now in pill form for diabetes and weight loss. There’s already an effect on food. Campbell’s said that its snacks business in the May quarter was down 4% from last year. It would have been 6% if they hadn’t raised prices.

Meanwhile, GLP-1s may also help stroke, kidney and fatty liver diseases as well as sleep apnea, and research is under way to treat substance abuse, psychiatric and even neurodegenerative disorders. Earlier this month, a Penn Medicine...

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TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS:

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Nothing socialists want to "redistribute" is produced by socialism.

Everything socialists want to "redistribute" is produced by capitalism.

[CondoleezzaProtege]

Off topic but related:

It’s hard to convince someone who has been through a healthcare insurance horror story — and this includes government insurance like with Veterans Affairs — but it’s hard to just say “well it’s worse in England.” And that’s that.

People are right to be upset with insurance companies. People are right to be upset by things like veterans homelessness.

Does it mean socialism is the answer? No, but it means our current system has a lot to answer for.

Other than that, yeah AOC is a quintessential capitalist with regard to how she actually moves and conducts herself. Very good marketer.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

No, but it means our current system has a lot to answer for.

The more government/insurance has gotten involved in healthcare, the more expensive it has become.

Health care was 5% of GDP in the 'fifties. It is now approaching 20%.

Direct Primary Care doctors, those who do not accept medical insurance but operate by monthly subscription fees are able to provide services at a fraction of the price hospitals charge because they have far less overhead, most of which goes toward insuranc accounting.

"The current system" does, indeed, need to be replaced.

https://x.com/i/grok/share/0f50de410edf41dca4adb4836730c4e8

[alexander_busek]

But the ability to identify and eliminate debilitating diseases—for example, hereditary blindness—is nothing short of amazing.

An elderly frat-brother of mine was blind - allegedly because a dog had bitten him in the face/eyes when he was boy - though he had already suffered poor vision.

So the story was that he did not suffer from hereditary blindness.

Then he married and had a daughter, whom I met when we were both in our early 20s. She had the most beautiful pale-blue eyes. And she was training to become a massage therapist. Good decision - as her eyesight was already failing!

Regards,