-Caveat Lector- ----- Original Message ----- The Body Snatchers by Russell Madden http://www.zolatimes.com/V5.11/body_snatchers.html The Texas legislature has apparently come up with a new twist on a very old practice. In a story reported by CBS news, the wise and compassionate lawmakers of the Lone Star state are in the process of emulating their more enlightened European brethren. What they hope to do is to alter Texas law so that your body and its contents will be put to good use when you die. The goal is to create a condition called "presumed consent," sort of like your book club sending you their latest selections unless you expressly tell them not to. In this case, your organs will be harvested for distribution to various sick folks upon your demise unless you affirmatively deny that such is your desire. Such "opting out" works wonders in Europe for increasing the supply of organs available for transplantation. And we all know what a fountainhead for freedom our European cousins are... With over 70,000 Americans waiting desperately to receive acceptable replacement parts for failing organs, there is obviously a need to increase the supply of substitute organs. Unfortunately for these patients, not enough of their fellow citizens are signing their donor cards. Ingenious souls that they are, the Texans pushing this plan know that many of these ill folks could benefit from the deaths of others. If those who die are so uncaring that they do not voluntarily offer to surrender their bodies to the State, well, then... In the old days in Europe, of course, researchers delving into the mysteries of the human body paid various unsavory characters to visit cemeteries and remove the corpses of the recently departed. They, too, did not bother with such messy niceties as gaining consent from the dead person's relatives. After all, they might say no. What would happen to medical progress if these inquisitive scientists let grieving kinfolk deprive them of the bodies they needed to continue their studies? The dead no longer had use for their flesh and bones. The survivors would be none the wiser, either, if the snatch was made under the cover of darkness. Sadly, despite their noble intent, grave robbers received neither the gratitude nor the blessings of those who did discover what happened to their loved ones. All Not Forbidden Is Permitted One can only marvel at the amazing progress the centuries have bestowed upon us. Modern day body snatchers need no longer scurry about in the dark of night nor fear a ready noose for their temerity. No, nowadays the grave robbing is to be sanctioned by the power and glory of the State. Imagine if those skulking figures of old had stood boldly and offered in their defense that, well, no one said we couldn't dig up the corpse and slice it open. Why, maybe the Texas authorities have come up with a novel principle for guiding social interactions perfect for the era in which we labor! As long as someone doesn't explicitly say you cannot do something, then the sky's the limit. Carte blanche. Conjure the possibilities... Your neighbor walks unbidden into your house. He takes food out of your refrigerator and munches on a hot wing while rifling through your wallet. Shoving a few twenties into his pocket, he reaches over and kisses your wife. Then nonchalantly, he strolls over, punches you in the mouth, lifts up your new DVD player, picks your pocket for your car keys, then drives away in your new SUV. Who's to stop or criticize him? After all, you did not explicitly tell him not to do any of those particular acts. Where's the notice on the door? And if you do place a long list of forbidden behaviors there, why, I'm sure your neighbor's a creative lad. I have no doubt whatsoever that he can think of a myriad of things he can do that you cannot possibly foresee and explicitly forbid. Robbery, rape, murder, fraud... Gosh. The opportunities for getting what you need are mind-boggling. (Why stop at "needs," though? In today's subjectivist culture, wants and desires are magically transformed into "needs" simply because you say so. Plus, "needs" trump any objections. Don't they?) We Take Your Money, Why Not Your Body? On second thought, maybe this principle of "presumed consent" is not so novel in the annals of the State, after all. Currently when you die, if you were too frugal, too successful, too prudent in your life, and you amassed too much money, the State has no compunction stepping in and seizing over half the wealth you accumulated. Who cares that such property represents years of your life and the creative energy of your mind? You lived in this society and therefore you gave "presumed consent" to whatever laws the majority deemed proper. Estate taxes are a mere drop in the bucket, though. Income taxes, social security taxes, Medicare taxes, sales taxes, gas taxes, sin taxes, property taxes, and on and on are taken from you whether you want to surrender them or not. With those and other types of what might be called "life robbery" or "life snatching," you don't even have a chance to opt out of the system. Those caring folks in Texas are at least considering that small sop to your sensibilities. Then there is the draft. While we no longer have active "selective service" (don't you just love government euphemisms for slavery?), all men have to register when they turn eighteen or risk being denied any shot at government-funded student loans or government jobs. (The horror!) As Ayn Rand said, "Of all the statist violations of individual rights in a mixed economy, the military draft is the worst.... It negates man's fundamental right -- the right to life -- and establishes the fundamental principle of statism: that a man's life belongs to the state, and the state may claim it by compelling him to sacrifice it in battle. Once that principle is accepted, the rest is only a matter of time. "...if his consent is not required to send him into unspeakable martyrdom - then, in principle, all rights are negated in that state, and its government is not man's protector any longer. What else is there left to protect?" ("The Wreckage of the Consensus," in Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, p. 226 - 227, emphasis in original.) What else, indeed? Your Organs, Dead or Alive If the State can send your living self into some hellhole to die a mangled and miserable death for a bitter people who neither like you nor want you there, what barrier is there to prevent it from claiming your organs from your lifeless self? To statists and collectivists, you are nothing more than a "resource" to be exploited as the majority judges best. You are to be figuratively and literally "harvested" - alive or dead - like some crop of wheat or corn or rice with no more regard for your rights, your values, or your choices than those amber fields of grain. No inkling crosses the benighted consciousnesses of these obscene rulers that another path exists for solving the very real problem of transplant shortages. Most of us would like to see an increase in the numbers of organs available for dying patients. But, no, these bearers of an ancient banner helped create the shortage by outlawing the sale of body parts, by denying you ownership of your body whether you are alive or dead. They then take an unfortunate situation that they have exacerbated by their ill-considered prohibitions then look to even more violations of your rights to "solve" it. Recognize our right to a free market in organs and the politicos benefit not only patients but the survivors of those who die. As Walter Williams has pointed out, if people knew they could sell parts of their bodies upon death and help ease the financial burdens of their spouses and children, they would be more likely to take better care of their bodies. Your organs could become part of your estate - a valuable resource that you control - rather than merely a corpse to be burned or eaten by worms. How Much Is That Kidney in the Window? But, no. Rather than appeal to freedom and what is right, the Texas lawmakers want to institute some twisted new version of estate taxes. Unfortunately, if we consider Rand's quote regarding the draft, we may soon be seeing such proposals in more states or even nationally. "Informed consent" already operates in fewer and fewer areas of life. Adults meekly accept more and more mandates from the State. Children are raised in state-run educational institutions that teach mindless obedience and acceptance of arbitrary and irrational rules; mini-police states that inculcate State-worship and that destroy independent thoughts and spirits. Maureen Sweeny of Baylor Medical Center's Division of Organ Transplants favors "presumed consent" provisions. "I think when you take away people's free will around something it has the potential to backfire." (No!) She also said that, "I'm not sure Texans, or Americans for that matter, are ready yet, culturally, to have somebody mandate that you have to give your organs if you're brain dead." Maybe she's correct that Americans are not yet ready to accept such mandatory harvesting. I fear, however, that someday soon they will be. (For fictional ponderings of some of these issues, see Larry Niven's A Gift From Earth [in which criminals receive the death penalty for minor offenses and have their organs harvested]; J. Neil Schulman's The Rainbow Cadenza [in which women are drafted for sexual service]; and my own, "The Greatest Good" [in which healthy people are drafted for their organs; available on my website]. See Russ Madden's articles, short stories, novel excerpts, and items of interest to Objectivists, libertarians, and sci-fi fans at http://home.earthlink.net/~rdmadden/webdocs/. -30- -- Best Wishes They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin, Statesman and Inventor, 1759 <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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