A discussion has been going on in this country about organ donorship. The question being, if we should assume that a person who dies, is a donor by default, unless the bereaved object to this.
Well, let me start by making a clear statement about myself: When I am dead, “they” can recycle any part of mine in any which way they think is useful. So I’d say: “Treat yourselves, chaps, it’s all yours – when I’m done with it.”
All usable organs can be transplanted into other people, the bones can be made into glue and gelatine, and any rest can serve as a pets meal. Provided, of course, that for the latter it will pass a chemical waste screening, which I seriously doubt.
In general I am all for a donor-by-default provision. But I don’t agree with the possible interference by the people who stay behind. And apart from that, I think that if someone does not want to donate organs, he or she can stipulate this in a written statement of some kind. This person can then be excluded automatically from receiving any donations. Including blood infusions. That will teach the selfish bastards.
And IF this person then decides to make use of a donation in a moment of despair, he must forfeit his written statement and become a donor on the spot. You see, I am a lenient man, the choice is there until the very last moment…
To assume the holiness of the human body, after it has become an empty hull, switched off and no longer inhabited by its life giving software, is problematic. It would be more useful if we got to consider it as a vessel in which we transport our brain form A to B and with which we carry our sensors and tools. No more, no less. Maybe that will result in a better attitude towards ourselves too; in terms of healthier lifestyles, for instance.
We’ll see. The make-ability of the body is becoming more and more apparent and visible to the general public. We are on average more careful with our cars than with ourselves. Seeing the garage bill after an operation on oneself, listing the spare parts and their prices – including VAT – might just do the trick.
A small addition to this article after some comments I got: in a Soylent Green future, where every resource will be scarce, maybe, it is thinkable that ones body is no longer considered ones own property…
Think about it. We’ll be with lots of people on the planet, but that only works if everyone looks after oneself properly… where “proper” will be defined by the rulers according to standing policies, as goes without saying… In general, people are unable to do this themselves, so why not help them out by taking the reigns?
It doesn’t sound good, but foul times might require foul methods. I’ll be dead & recycled by then. The only thing I can do is raise my sons to be revolutionaries and try to make it a family trade.
