Thursday, March 28, 2024

What's a few Wurlitzers among friends?

Posted

There seems to be a controversy about harvesting organs from executed prisoners in China. What's the fuss? They have plenty of prisoners who owe society a debt and plenty of people who would still like to keep living the dream in the fake communist society, which is teetering on capitalism run amuck.

By that I mean if a wealthy Chinese toy manufacturer, who has made his fortune selling cheap goods to Walmart on the backs of slave prison labor, needs a new kidney or heart or liver, then why not get it from the same demographic he has exploited for years anyway?

What's a few Wurlitzers (organs) among friends anyway? I make light of this PC cause made into an issue by the liberals because why should we care if these hapless souls that are headed for death actually give back a meaningful benefit to society before they go?

Well, it turns out the real issue is that these organs are being harvested without the permission of the condemned men.

Again, who cares? Did they give permission to be imprisoned or to be found guilty or to be caught in the first place? Of course not. So why are medical ethicists suddenly falling all over themselves demanding that the about-to-be-executed give permission for organ donations?

The Chinese are nothing if not practical. They control the birthrate of the populace as best they can. They control which children can go to the best schools and which kids are destined for plowing fields. They recognize the best athletes and the best scientists and treat them accordingly.

I saw this invented controversy on a PBS Newshour show last week and I am still baffled as to the big deal. Is the point that when a person dies the disposition of the body is up to that person and/or his family?

Is it unethical to remove a piece of the body so that another may live with or without permission from the donor? I have a small heart emblem on my Washington state driver's license denoting the fact I am willing to donate organs upon my death from a car crash.

It is a simple procedure and needs no further explanation.

I would much rather complain about the Chinese penchant for believing rhino horns are aphrodisiacs thus causing massive poaching in Africa and driving those poor critters into extinction, than to complain about a few organs being taken to allow others to live.

As usual, PC complaints are misguided. If the Chinese hurt your feelings that much, then quit buying toys for little Johnny and shut your pie holes. If the rights of the condemned are that important to you then offer up your own organs and pay for putting them on dry ice and flying them to Beijing.

Are liberals so naive as to not realize only the wealthy among the Chinese are going to get these organs anyway even if they have to buy them from America? 

If I should be crushed by a landslide on Highway 2 one fine day, but my heart is still good enough to be harvested and donated, I, just like these Chinese prisoners, will not have a choice as to whom gets my organs, nor will I care. Although one might say I cared enough to give permission ahead of time for the  "state" to take the heart, so do I believe the prisoners in China are giving the state permission the moment they commit the crime which ultimately leads to their execution by the state.

Is this convoluted logic or the musings of one who understands the organist at a ballpark plays the same instrument as Beethoven, but probably gets more benefits and his own parking spot?

Such is life ....and death in our modern world. 

 

(Gary Bégin is the managing editor for NCW Media, publishers of several weeklies and the monthly Wenatchee Business Journal. His views are his own and do not necessarily reflect that of ownership. He can be reached via email: gary@ncwmedia.net).

Apples to Apples, Gary Begin

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