by Peter C. Earle (AEIR)
Excerpts:
A recent series of memes and social network one-liners purport to expose the moral bankruptcy of capitalism by asking rhetorically, “Why is baby formula kept under lock and key?” The explicit inference is that it is only a profound form of greed that would see such an essential good, critical to the most vulnerable human beings, being so securely held. It is at least shameful and more likely evil, the assertion continues, that infant formula is maintained in cages in supermarkets, revealing the sinister character of the profit system.
First, baby formula regularly appears on lists of the most shoplifted goods at supermarkets. Because it is expensive and occasionally prone to shortages, there exists a liquid, active black market supplied by sophisticated underground networks for baby formula. And owing to prohibition-fattened profit margins, formula constitutes a safe, accessible input for cutting drugs like cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine.
