Neo-Cannibalism : A look at organ donation

In the shanty towns of Brazil, the slums in Africa and the even in some parts of inner city America there are still rumors going round about organ harvesting.
These people believe that there are death squads of US or Japanese military that are driving round in vans, kidnapping people, stealing their organs and selling them to wealthy businessmen and women in the western world.
Personally I find this very hard to believe, but I think the rumor may be rooted in some, albeit exaggerated, truth.
The poor people in these places have a growing fear and quite rightly so, they feel that they are worth more dead than alive to the global society. they feel like less of a human being and more of a collection of spare parts for the rich.
While it is true that many of them (poor people) ‘lose’ organs when they die due to the ‘presumed consent’ law, I wonder how many of the poor actually receive organs. Especially in the shantytowns where there have been many bodies taken to the morgue and harvested of their kidneys and even corneas. Is it really surprising that these rumors are circulating? I am willing to bet that of all the organs taken from the dead in Rio’s Shantytowns, that less than one percent will go into a local transplant patient.
It literally is the poor feeding the rich, hence the title of this post, Neo-Cannibalism.

We look at organ donation as a gift of life. But something seems to be glossed over; it is also a gift of death. Somebody has to die for the recipient to live. This is morally reprehensible; you are literally waiting for somebody to die so you can have his or her organs.
The big debate at the moment is whether people should be allowed to sell their organs. I will reserve personal judgment on this because I do not think there is a correct answer. There is a quote from a woman from Brazil that sums up the zeitgeist of the shantytown population. ‘I would rather sell my body than have people take it anyway’ There is so much wrong with this and obviously there are deeper issues. She shouldn’t have to do either and the quote is reminiscent of prostitutes in societies where women are inferior.

In the US there are also some ethical issues that need to be looked at. There are three different types of living donations – Whereby the donor is alive – and these are: A direct donation to a friend or family member, A non-direct donation which just goes into the pool of organs and will probably go to people near the top of the waiting list and there is also the directed to a stranger donation.
Although there are ethical problems with the first two types, (Such as an immense pressure on the donor to give to a loved one, even if he/she doesn’t want to, or, in regards to a non-direct donation, it has to be looked at as a bit extreme. I mean, that is some radical kindness that is verging on the insane. Risking your life and health for a stranger you will never meet.) The direct donation to a stranger verges on sick. It is another classic case of rich getting one over on the poor. See, in America it is legal to advertise for an organ. People put up billboards, get on TV so people can hear their heart-wrenching tales of woe. This makes people want to donate an organ in the same, manipulative way that animal charities play somber music and show images of sad animal eyes in their adverts. Manipulating for £2 a month is one thing… But an organ?
This inevitably means that people will want to donate to the best advertiser of grief - usually rich, news-worthy people – rather than someone in greater need, such as a poor single woman with three young kids to support.

It really is no wonder that the poor feel harvested and I can understand where these, untrue, rumors have sprung. It really needs to be sorted out. I cannot put forth any suggestions because it is an ethical minefield. On the one hand, an organ market could exasperate the problem and it could make people even more paranoid, or it will allow people to sell what is theirs, Oh I don’t know. I will let you decide for yourselves.