Where we differ
You and Squashed think you are being compassionate toward the guy who wants to sell his kidney, but it’s not compassion—it’s cruelty. He has a potential path out of poverty, and you want to block it. If you think it’s an awful path, give him a better one, so that the kidney sale looks less attractive.
Jeff, I assure you, I am trying very hard to give that guy a path out of poverty that doesn’t require him to sell chunks of his body. I have all sorts of ideas for programs that would have a much, much better chance of succeeding than a one-shot cash injection followed by a probable lifetime of health consequences.
Unfortunately, my option might involve some things the political right isn’t going to be particularly happy about. Buying the kidneys of the poor might be slightly more socially conscious than eating their children—but I think we can do some even more clever reforms. We can start with healthcare and early childhood education. We can crack down on predatory lending. We can restore some teeth to our usury laws. We can even ratchet up the estate tax to break down generational privilege.
