The Sarasota/Bradenton Nation Group provides a local forum for political commentary and activities that hope to shape and inform public discourse and political outcomes in line with the Nation Magazine. Sarasota resident, Bob Goldschmidt recently presented "The Scourge of Unfettered Corporations" to The Nation Group. Sarasota is fortunate to have many local people willing to stand up and speak out about corporate power as it is exercised in the United States today. Bob laid out his thoughtful perspective, paying close attention to the issues of employee wages, automation, the impacts of information technology, corporate media, and the downsides of monopolistic corporations.
Bob held one pharmaceutical company, Purdue Pharma, up for detailed scrutiny. The beginning of the opioid crisis can be traced back to the release of OxyContin, which is Purdue Pharma’s best-selling drug. The nationwide overdose epidemic has hit Manatee County especially hard. Back in December, the city of Palmetto joined municipalities across the state in potentially filing a lawsuit against big pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors for their alleged role in the current opioid epidemic that has killed an estimated 200,000 Americans in the past few years. Last month, perhaps in response to lawsuits, Purdue Pharma announced it will stop marketing its painkillers to doctors. Bob's talk delves a bit into the historical context of the growth of Purdue Pharma.
The Q&A following Bob's talk was animated, but not included in the video.
