No Stupid Questions

There are religions that forbid it. A lot of people just don’t care either.

To me everyone should be

Have you ever pondered about the logical implications of this way of thinking?

Have you ever pondered about who has the "easiest" access to organs? It's gazillionaires like Bryan Johnson who dream of "immortality" (Death Herself entered the chat: "LOL"). Needless to say, a humble human being like us in need for an organ is very unlikely to afford it than a gazillionaire does, you probably know it.

So imagine if there were some kind of law requiring everybody's organs to be donated: who do you think would benefit from such a law?

Furthermore, this kind of law would inevitably become a fundamentum for a new law in the lines "every person should give birth yearly" so gazillionaires could get plenty of organs to choose from a broader "genetic pool" (sic). And, suddenly, world would become a dystopian, Matrix-like human farm, harvesteable by a few "powerful", a world where biological human existence got reduced, through the force of the corporations-states joint venture, to being born, raised and indoctrinated by the capitalist system for the legally-enforced purposes of working and reproducing yearly, until, say, the wannabe-god Jeff Bezos in his 300th anniversary demands another liver from the "peasantry" because he took too much whiskey during his last weekend's trip to his Blue Origins LEO Stargate Resort and he needs so badly to be alive next week so he can order another round of "mandated peasantry breeding & layoff programme" at Amazon.

Don't get me wrong: I'm not against organ donation, much to the contrary; I'm well aware there are humans in need for organs and, given I don't really care (or at least I want not to care) about the fate of this biological garment I've been compelled to wear, I'd happily give mine away (if my organs were still functional despite my unhealthy habits)... except, of course, to gazillionaires; unfortunately, I wouldn't be physically around to refuse a rich my organs, best I could do as a disembodied dæmonic entity would be haunting to hell their mansions and resorts.

!nostupidquestions@lemmy.world

Fwiw I’ve always liked it being opt-out over here in Belgium. In fact, among the European countries it’s just Germany and a handful of others that don’t do it that way.

Being an organ donor isn’t a big deal when everyone is. On the political level it’s just a given.

When my dad died he gave three other people an extended lease on life. It helps me to think about that sometimes.

I can ‘get’ people feeling weird about getting picked apart once they’re dead. But the thing is, you won’t notice much. And they’re going to cut you open at the funeral home anyway. So you might as well go out paying it forward.

Chronical illnesses. For different reasons, both my wife and I are "unfit" both for organ and blood donations.

I am an organ donor myself but there are a few different reasons people are not

1. superstition and religious beliefs. Some religions are against it.

2. a belief that doctors won't try as hard to save them if they can use their organs to save more people

because the hospital makes a profit off of donated organs.

I know some people fear that they could end up in the hospital with something not life-threatening but the doctors would harvest their organs and kill them.

It's not a rational fear, but people do be thinking that sometimes.

My dad was an organ donor when his brain died. The next day after the 24 hour period to confirm brain death, I was sitting with my brother and stepmother waiting to have the plug pulled when a lady walked into the room and introduced herself "as part of my father's care team." I don't remember much of what she said because I was focused on waiting for the end and she wasn't wearing scrubs so I didn't really care what she had to say, but she left and after another couple hours I learned that she was from the Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) for our State, my dad was a donor, and they weren't pulling the plug until they took him to a different hospital for organ harvesting.

The rest of that day was a blur but my stepmom was pissed, the next morning my dad's body was in the same room, that lady was apparently fired, there was a new guy and gal as well as their boss to talk with us, they told us they weren't going away. Eventually they agreed to perform the harvesting surgery there so we could walk to the OR with him. We were asked if we wanted a "hero walk" where the nurses and doctors take time away from actually helping people to clap for a corpse being walked down the hall, which was the dumbest fucking thing I'd ever heard of.

I wasn't there when my dad's brain died in the middle of the night. I thought I'd be there as his body functions shut down over the course of a half hour, but instead the last I saw of him before he was cremated was his still breathing corpse being pushed down a hallway. I got a text that his heart had stopped a couple hours later.

Across North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin there are only something like 350 organ donations a year because the body needs to be either very fresh and preserved or brain dead to keep the organs intact for harvesting. If you are a donor, it is very unlikely that your organs will actually be donated, but if they are, it can add a whole extra layer of shitty to an already awful situation for the family. Obviously this is just my experience and it's probably unusual for people to be fired so it was probably an especially bad one, but you asked and this is my answer to your question. I'm still not sure if I'm going to be a donor next time I renew my license. I don't think I will until I add a stipulation to my will to allow my family to override it if they feel a need to.

My only problem with organ donation in the US is the recipient gets a huge bill, including $86,000 for the actual liver. The donors family gets nothing.

So if someone gets into an accident and eventually dies, and is a donor, the family gets a massive bill, and the hospital makes $1M from the recipient.

People are being a bit cynical in the comments, so I’ll share my experience which is a bit different.

I felt an irrational fear when I checked the box to become an organ donor a few years ago.

I rationally knew it was the right thing to do, but it felt bad nonetheless. Nowadays I just no longer think about it.

So my guess is that many people are scared of it, but no one wants to admit that.

I know someone who works in the organ donation industry, and that's what's made me question wanting to be an organ donor more than anything. The dilemma for me boils down to 1. You need to not be dead dead for your organs to be harvested 2. We are not really that good at determining what's good enough dead vs definitely alive but seems dead when time is critical, doctors are busy, and there's people actively pressuring for the transplant to happen.

In my experience, some of the people that I have met that aren't organ donors are afraid that the hospitals and doctors will do less to save you if you're in an accident so that they can use all of your organs to "save" many more people. It's dumb, but I've met a scary amount of folks who believe that.

You think it's kind of selfish because you're a rational person. The reasons people aren't organ donors are because the thought of surgery makes them squeamish ignoring the fact that you'll be dead and won't feel it, and the other reason is because they think they need to take the organs with them to heaven. It's mostly religious nuts.

If you sit down and give the topic all due fair consideration, yes, there’s only one rational conclusion. However a lot of people just don’t want to think about dying, period, and will switch off on anything that makes them do so. I’m sure there are also misinformed people who think their organs can be freely stolen even if they’re not dead yet if they check that box.

I’m not justifying these people, mind you. I’m just describing how it happens. There is no good reason, but there are reasons.

It wasn't that long ago that doctors had to go grave robbing at night, risking their careers and freedom, just to be able to get access to the human cadavers needed to advance medical science. Christianity has always had a real problem with people adding or removing things from the human body, even dead bodies, and the effects of that are still echoing all around the western world in many many ways.

In some US states, it’s opt out when you get ID or drivers license. I think that’s a better way to go about it

Does anyone remember the time the US military blew up a Grandma?

I don’t even have an organ. Hell I don’t even know how to play one!

I think few people would object to it if they were told it was an option, but the default is "no" in most countries and many people just don't think to opt in.

I've got a family member who has heard tell of folks having their organs harvested while still alive, and that's enough for them to say no. Helps them sleep at night, so fair enough. Your peace of mind has value.

Also I think maybe the catholics are against it? It would fit their whole schtik. Can't day I care enough about what they think to find out though.

I don't give a fuck. Take 'em when I go, if you want. I doubt they'll be any good, but recycling's 'in' these days, so ...

Some people such as myself can neither be blood nor organ donors because their bodies are undesirable.

Examples: Cancer, Leukemia, HIV, TB, Leiden V Factor, etc.

People with such issues are often incompatible donors.

Religion

I'm a donor (woe betide whoever gets anything from me) but I totally understand not being OK with it. This guy says we won't need them, but that's unknowable. Maybe there's a bunch of donors at the gate not being let in until the rest of them gets there. But if ever you have a right to claim ownership over anything, it's your body. Your organs aren't collective property others have a right to. You fuck off, these are my organs is a totally reasonable position.