- Kristen B.

I don’t want to spoil anyone’s reading pleasure by giving away crucial plot points, but there’s a story in Harlen Ellison’s collection, “Dangerous Visions,” that looks toward a future of mandated organ donation and at least one aspect of it is decidedly “non-purty.” What happens when the State decides that the need for organ donation to save lives justifies “harvesting” the organs from, for instance, condemned child murderers, so that “good and productive” members of society can continue to live and do good works? Sounds like a better idea than paying for those miscreants to live in five-star prison-hotels for the rest of their lives, eh? But think about the incentive for the rich and powerful to lower the bar on just which crimes eventually become deserving of such punishment.

To some extent I see the paid organ donation business in the same light. If I can sell a kidney for $10,000 to feed my starveling children, who draws the line to say I can’t sell a leg or a lung to buy a condo or a few kilos of crack cocaine? Or, as a voter, to overlook the need for child welfare since the lazy parents can always just feed their kids by first being required to donate some blood? Basically, on a gut level, I kind of agree with the organ selling philosophy as you outline the argument. But I’ve learned to be leery of slippery slopes and the “Good Germans” who look at their neighbors and say “Well, it’s really not THAT much of an imposition to take this particular little step.”

Michael J. McFadden
Peace Studies, 1973

He deserves nothing but success

I think his grandfather was Joe Zeitler – see the article