juvenal said:
What does it mean to "get away"? What if Heinz is found guilty but given a slap on the wrist? Some community service or probation?
Well, in this particular case, it would depend on why the drug was so expensive.
Just prior to a hurricane, jacking up the prices on batteries, bottled water, and other emergency supplies is as illegal as stealing. This, in spite of the fact that natural supply and demand would seem to imply that the price of emergency supplies
should skyrocket immediately before a disaster. The idea of pure capitalism has its limits, even in a capitalist society.
If the drug is selling at a 'fair' price, a person might still get off with a slap on the wrist. Unfortunately for Heinz, if he can't afford the drug, he probably can't afford the lawyer good enough to get him off with something as light as community service or probation.
If a person swerved off the road in their SUV to avoid a head-on collision with a drunk driver and ran over a couple of kids walking down the sidewalk, I would put the chances of the SUV driver being held responsible for the kids' deaths barely above zero. The survival instinct and the lack of time to think things through absolves him completely. Equally important, you don't face the threat of a rash of SUV drivers running over kids on the sidewalk under the excuse of avoiding drunk drivers (and, even if you did, the solution would be to reduce the number of drunk drivers, not punish the folks trying to avoid them).
The difference with Heinz is that he has time to weigh the consequences of his actions. While I'm not sure what reasonable alternative he might come up with, the effect of letting Heinz off
too lightly is to encourage others in the same situation to do the same thing. The result could be to deny the drug to everyone, since the drug maker can't very well stay in business without making a profit.
In fact, Heinz's plight shows why
some socialism is important even in capitalist societies. While
all of the best medical care may not be available to
all lower income people, there has to be at least enough of a chance of getting necessary medical care that the overwhelming majority keep their faith in the system. I think we had a thread many months ago that alluded to that - the fairness of the taxation system didn't matter; only that those paying higher tax rates had much more to gain from a stable society than the lower income folks paying less than their fair share in maintaining the structures of society. You don't want a survival of the most violently fittest.
