Do you own your organs?
It sure has been slow around here recently, so here’s something to think about:
I just read this.
Now why is this illegal? Do we not own our organs? Should we not be able to donate them to whom we want? If so, then why not sell them? Does it come down to protecting people from their own stupidity, or is it because the government/medical system wants to decide/get a piece of the action?
I’m curious as to what you guys think…
Categories: DaCunha
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Maybe it’s to make sure wealthy people don’t get an “unfair” advantage to receiving organs? That seems silly to me. They have an advantage to acquire others things, so why not organs? If this is the case, who is deciding what is “fair”?
I imagine its to prevent people from trafficking in less than voluntary donors. You could make the same argument about prostitution (which I think is a legitimate one). The problem is sorting out who is coerced or tricked into giving up their organs.
Interesting. Well, if you get tricked out of a kidney, then you have issues beyond urea filtration.
So, let me understand your point here…if someone is able to be coerced (whether by threat or money) into giving up their kidney, we should remove the person’s ability to do such altogether unless they go through some other person who decides the transaction is legitimate? Otherwise we prosecute all who are involved for the system’s stability?
We should be monitoring a vast number of other things as well in that case, like credit card applications. If someone is tricked or coerced into signing a credit card application with a 33% interest rate, we should prosecute both the idiot who signed it and the credit card company for usury. Then maybe we wouldn’t have to bailout banks because they lend vast amounts of money to people who can’t afford it, and then charge them for not being able to afford it, creating greater unpaid debt, then their books don’t balance and they need taxpayer’s help (admittedly over-simplified financial-system comment)…that to me seems more important than what Joe Schmoe does with his organs. But I digress…
It just seems silly to say to someone, “no, you can’t sell your finger to that guy who just lost all his, but if you want to donate a finger, we will decide who can have it.”
*knock knock*
A: “Who’s there?”
B: “Government mandated organ check. We’re here to ensure your safety and that you have all you organs”
A: “Giggity”
Everyone should have the ability to do whatever they wish with their own bodies, as long as it doesn’t harm another person. I suppose a lot of people would argue “bb.bbu…but then there would be an incentive for poor people to trade their lifelong health for a few months’ worth of wages!” to which I would say “err… Yes. That’s exactly what might happen. But we’re all big boys and girls here and we can make our own decisions. I will not make yours for you, and I expect that you not make mine for me.”
@mis4mike
“The problem is sorting out who is coerced or tricked into giving up their organs”
A: “Hey look over there!” *points*
B: “Whaaa…?”
*steals kidney*
I had a friend who went to Tijuana one weekend on a bachelor party. He met this smokin hot chick and stayed at the bar with after all his friends left. Evidently he got slipped a rufy because he doesn’t remember the rest of the night – but he woke up in a bathtub full of ice with a note next to a phone saying dial 911. Turns out they totally stole his kidney!
Well, it is pretty obvious that there are significant differences between being coerced into giving a kidney and getting a credit card.
Simply getting a credit card with a high interest rate does you little harm. It takes the individual deciding to spend on that card to actually inflict any hardship. You cannot recover your normal quality of life from losing a kidney either.
Well, Alegir, what are your thoughts on the original post, aside from my comment?
Obviously CCs and organs are different…but it seems to me that the point of the regulation is to protect people from their own stupidity. Now, I would guess that a LOT more harm has been done to the average household due to credit card company shananigans than from organ trafficking. My point is you could help a greater number of people from their own idiocy (the average credit card holder does not even know their interest rate, let alone monitor it, according to a recent article I read) by regulating other things and not organ trafficking.
Yeah, I saw that movie too.