Shackling the Masses With Drastic Capitalist Tactics

We should denounce ruthless and wild compradors like Wu-Tang superfan Martin Shkreli, but also understand the cold world in which they operate.


We live in the kind of times where we never lack villains. When disasters are opportunities, and the squandering of an opportunity is the most grievous failing, all sorts of terrible people can prosper.

With Martin Shkreli, the much-loathed CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, “millennials” finally have a villain to call our own. A post-hardcore kid and Bernie Sanders fan (until the campaign gave his donation to a health clinic), Shkreli sparked public outcry after his company acquired Dataprim, a drug used by AIDS patients, and jacked the price up from $13.50 to $750 a pill. More recently he’s made himself something to fuck with by upsetting rap fans worldwide: it was revealed that he was the buyer of the sole copy of the latest Wu-Tang Clan album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. Shame on Shkreli, it’s time to run game on Shkreli.

Now that he’s being persecuted by that universal court of Twitter, excoriated everyone from Hillary Clinton to Donald Trump, Shkreli has taken things in stride, lashing out at his critics over Twitter with an unapologetic glee. His toad style is immensely strong, and immune to nearly any weapon. This comfort with Internet outrage comes as little surprise, as he’s made his fortune denouncing his rivals online.

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