I read a thread similar to the above on r/Canadaleft. In Canada, blood donations are not compensated (beyond cookies and juice), and are collected by a single government agency. Healthcare in Canada is free at the point of service, so people who need blood or plasma get it at no cost.
To me this seems like a good idea, I don't want there to be a price on body products. It seems bad to be that blood, or kidneys, or any human organ could be sold or bought.
On the other hand, isn't giving blood or plasma a form of labor? Should a system rely on charity to function?
Plasma is bought/sold in the United States, often sourced from the poor. But organs cannot be bought. In some countries organs can be bought.
Many western countries ( Canada included) buy plasma from the United States, because domestic donation rates are too low. So the high horse isn't even really that high.
Can a smarter leftist provide some insight?
I think the idea that "if something is labor, it should be compensated" is a juvenile form of leftism. Should you get paid for donating blood in a system where everyone's basic needs are met and all currency is labor vouchers? Sure, that sounds great. But under the current system it would create a perverse incentive for the poorest to literally sell their bodies, and I doubt any gains in amounts of donations couldn't be achieved by just putting that money into having more donation locations.
Ideally blood donation would be encouraged by incentive but it should not be compensated as blood should be freely available.
It's all academic for me anyway since as a gay dude I still can't donate without being abstinent for a minimum of 3 months in most Western countries so fuck all y'all
The number of collection centers in the United States has more than doubled since 2005 and blood now makes up well over 2 percent of total U.S. exports by value. To put that in perspective, Americans’ blood is now worth more than all exported corn or soy products that cover vast areas of the country’s heartland. The U.S. supplies fully 70 percent of the world’s plasma, mainly because most other countries have banned the practice on ethical and medical grounds. Exports increased by over 13 percent, to $28.6 billion, between 2016 and 2017, and the plasma market is projected to “grow radiantly,” according to one industry report. The majority goes to wealthy European countries; Germany, for example, buys 15 percent of all U.S. blood exports. China and Japan are also key customers.Harvesting the Blood of America’s Poor: The Latest Stage of Capitalism
Hell no. Blood and organs should be transmitted to those who need it. There is no labour involved in creating blood, it's a bodily function. The only labour would be going to the donation centre.
Also, for all here, if you can give blood do. Shit saves lives and we always need it.
Paying for blood/plasma donations incentivizes the donor to 1: Donate more frequently than is healthy, and 2: Lie about medical history that would result in rejected blood.
I agree, although I think in a society that guaranteed people's basic needs like food, housing and healthcare, these issues would not be strong enough to lead people to risk their lives, and if the government payed for it, it would lead to increased participation.
Donating blood is actually a health benefit for many people.
Scientists knew that replacing blood with children's blood can reverse aging. It was recently discovered that simply replacing blood with saline also does the same thing.
Too much iron is bad sometimes
Designing an ethical experiment would be difficult, but do we really know what situations require real human plasma, and what could be accomplished by a simpler, synthetic alternative? (Say buffered saline + potassium + albumen + glucose?)
