So this is my last week of my/our ‘WPP social experiment‘ and I have to say it’s weird.
Yes I am very excited and happy about all that is – and about to – happen, but it’s still weird – especially when I see just how much shit I’ve amassed over the past few years and how it’s going to cost me a bloody fortune to ship everything over unless I actually start chucking some things out.
Putting all that aside – especially as I’m actually in HK at the moment and have to do all the ‘sorting’ when I’m back on Wednesday – what this means is that this will be my final week of regular blog posting for the next couple of months.
I know no one gives a shit – but by saying it, I can pretend I’m sort-of popular 🙂
By the way did you see what I did there?
Previously I’d talked about how I wasn’t going to write ANY blog post but and now I’m admitting there may be the odd one along the way.
Yes, I am obsessed.
How pathetic!
Anyway lets get onto this post shall we?
Oh hang on … just for the record, I’m going to be popping into Sydney in the first week of July for a few days … so if anyone who reads this rubbish wants to catch up, let me know – but I’m not exactly expecting to be inundated with offers, ha!
Right lets get back to the Human [Organ] Economy or as I like to call it, Organomics.
Basically I watched a program a while back about poor people in India/China selling their organs to wealthy [but unhealthy] Westerners because the small amount of money they got, could have a disproportionate benefit on their families life.
The most tragic part was when a woman sold one of her kidneys [via some dodgy ‘organ transplant’ ‘company] to an American man and then found out a few weeks later that her remaining kidney was failing and she was basically going to die.
[As an aside, while the American paid US$20,000 for the kidney – the woman only received approx US$1000]
Anyway, a few days later I met someone who told me that in Singapore, organ donorship is based on an ‘opt out’ scheme – or in other words, unless you actively express your desire to NOT donate, your organs will automatically be given to someone who needs it when you die. [Which is a brilliant idea, excluding those who can’t for religious reasons]
So this got me thinking and I think I have an idea that could be interesting but I’d like your guys feedback/views just incase … 🙂
I should say that I know there are some major flaws in the concept [ie: is there ever an abundance of human organs needing donors and can they stay ‘alive’ for a certain period of time, to name but two] but hang in there because this is an important issue and if we can help, then it would be great.
OK, so the idea is that when someone dies in Singapore – and assuming the organs that have been harvested are not needed by any local patient – the Singapore Government makes its availability known on something that I’m calling the ‘Life List’.
The ‘Life List’ is a website where people willing to pay for a ‘transplanted organ’ register their details so that when a human organ is made available, they can ‘buy’ [or bid] for it’s access.
[My worry with the ‘bid’ concept is that it could force ‘organ prices’ to go very high, whereas having ‘standard prices’ could aid in stopping the very real crime of organ theft – but that’s a different issue for now!]
Now I know this sounds pretty inhumane but this is where the idea comes in …
When someone buys the organ [and remember, there’s still the risk the body could reject it] the money that’s raised doesn’t go to the Singapore Government … nor to the family whose sad loss resulted in the organ being available … no, the money goes into a special fund that only invests in the poorest areas of India and China so that families located there won’t have to go to the terrible extent of selling one of their organs just to help their family survive.
In essence, when someone dies – the person isn’t just helping one person – he/she is potentially helping hundreds because whilst the organ will only go to one individual, the money ‘raised’ will be used to invest in all manner of things that can make life better for families, villages and communities.
I appreciate this might not work and that it is highly contentious – but if the Singapore Government did it [which I have to admit would be doubtful, even if it was feasible] you could argue that the Singaporean population are the most humane people on Earth!
So that’s it, we start a human organ stock market so that wealthy but ill Westerners can ‘buy’ hope for themselves and countless others [as long as no one in the ‘home country’ needs the organ first] and ensure no human has to ever resort to selling their life expectancy just so their kids can eat or learn.
[If we could stay on topic, I’d really appreciate it 🙂 ]