Profitting from Executions
An undercover investigation by BBC News finds that China has a flourishing trade of organs from executed prisoners. China is becoming the destination of choice for rich foreigners in need of organ transplants. One hospital said it could provide a liver for about $100,000. China has more executions than all other countries in the world combined.
Now coming from another angle, is it bad to use the organs of bad people (assuming that all executed have committed horrendous crimes - the fact that china executes so many is another debate and whether execution is acceptable a different one still)
If someone is dying, isn't it better to serve society? I am not talking about selling it, but making it available to ordinary people the same way as normal organ donations are made.
Ofcourse its a very delicate situation when you make profit from someone's death. If it costs you money then you are more careful.
What do you think?
6 comments:
I'm all for my death being somewhat benefitial to society. (But we all know how the world wil mourn me for decades, as they loose their greatest leader ever)
Anyways.
Didn't all of you guys place yourself as donors at the MVA?
What I remember to be scary is that when doing so, there was a reminder to the MDs here that their priority should be to save my life, not make me a donor.
THAT IS SCARY!!
And not surprising, seeing some of the MDs wannabes at NIH. (OOOOHHHH SNAP)
So... lost my train of thought, as usual, but LONG LIVE CHINA. Don't belieave the propaganda.
I was watching this documentary on China the other day with Ming, and I told him how I had seen this other docuementary "China in Red" in which there was a very famous mayor of a city, and Ming told me how the mayor had been executed for being corrupt.... since corruption is one of the biggest problem in chna (and I would add any communist-like regime) they are trying to get rid of it by scaring people....
Ming was also telling me how even possessing heroin was a reason for execution!
I really hope the people who select who is to be executed are not bribed! %-) I think it is scary to have so many executions!
@kanmi -
I don't think the issue is being beneficial after death. That is ok. What is not good is the fact that the chinese are now benefiting from executions and when this happens even more corruption follows. There is the questions of ethics here. How much more willing to execute is a society that is already corrupt when execution also brings profits?
This is not propaganda - it is reality and numbers.
@styx -
Yes - my mum was saying they have these mobile execution vans... very scary.
You know, it is like recycling, I hope you are not against recycling, are you?
Plus is not the corrupt that benefits, it is the people who are in great need of transplant, think about them, why don't you want them to have a chance in life?
Ah?
You just want everyone to die, don't you?
God chooses when you die, when your liver gause "bananas" after all the drinking, and so you think God has decided, no human should interfere and give them a second chance?
Ah?
Shame on you?
WAG OF THE FINGER YOUNG LADY!!
Remember they are communist (Or an attempt at one) so they don't care about profit, profit is for the selfish capitalist. It is your selfish pro-capitalist greedy thinking that has you all messed up.
I didnt see the video but I did read about this on bbc ... somehow couldnt bring myself to watch the
video - I find this a little disturbing.. that peoples organs are harvested without their permission
- ( I doubt if the prisoners provide consent) - and above it all the state benefits from the
proceeds.
I think the other thing I felt was that it was not whether they are bad people or not - I think that
it is a gross human rights violation to sell / harvest someones organs without their consent.
I am a lil uncomfortable with these particular words - "bad to use organs of bad people" - I think
that what makes us human is not to fall to the level of criminal that we detest - so even if someone
commits a horrendous crime - should we treat him in a less than human fashion - no ... punishment is
fine but not torture ... and disrespect of his body both in life and after death is not acceptable.
I am fine with organ donation and maybe perhaphs sale ( Im not sure about this - havent thought
about any problems I have with it other than gross exploitation -) as long as everything is with the
consent of the person.
If there is a sale involved - the money should be dispensed again as per the dead persons wishes ...
@anonymous:
very interesting arguments. I wasn't really condemning China - rather I was concerned that if the state earns profit by executing, then the chances of corruption increases dramatically, especially where there isn't open speech. I think ideally, the plan would be beneficial on many levels and I for one am an avid supporter of organ donation. However as I said, will governments be more execution-hungry if they know of the potential profit? As it is, in US an execution or death penalty costs at least as much as life sentence without parole (http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=108#financial%20facts). And in how many cases have the guilty found to be innocent?
I don't know, perhaps my concerns are two folds: (1) the idea of death penalty, (2) profitting by death penalty. Perhaps a system where like Brinda said, the executed can specify (freely) where the money goes to would be more acceptable.
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