The Body Market
Two years ago, a boy in Japan sold a kidney to get the latest Apple ipad. At the beginning of this year, another boy, probably inspired by the previous one’s bravado sold his for Samsung galaxy tab. A few months ago, I was tempted to sell at least two pints of my blood once I learnt a pint of my blood group cost N5000…
To other people, depending on regions of residence, none of these might seem to be a big deal, in fact it is commonplace in the USA for a man to wring out his privates for spermatozoa in a fertility bank every month in other to pay rent at an average rate of $85/ejaculation. Indian women shave off their long lustrous locks to put food on their family table. Dying men are submitting their bodies daily to the blood-thirsty blades of science for the benefit of their loved ones. What is happening!
It seems we humans are now fattening and grooming ourselves for slaughter, we have become lambs, cows and broilers, because we want to live better lives. But in the end however, who really gains out of the bargain? Who enjoys that ‘better life’ we paid for with our lives after we are dead?
Definitely not us though, because the man who sells his sperm to the fertility bank only to shelter himself and produce more sperm to sell for another day; the Indian woman who sells her hair only does so to buy food that will nourish it for future purchase…Yet everything on earth now seems to have a price; it goes on and on…love, loyalty, values…just about anything for money. If in this century living body parts are for sale then breathing air could hit the shelves in the nearest future!
Lets gets things in perspective here; money was made as a currency for man and not the other way round. Before you rush to sell your next pint of blood, genuinely ask yourself if the habit you are about to cultivate is a healthy one, I’m not just talking about physical health now because I’m sure your buyers would have gotten that covered, but mental health. Because you won’t stop there, you’ve be living for the next pint, the next shave, the next harvest…It will turn you to a junkie of sorts.
There really are other ways to survive than sell ourselves. We should check our values and re-prioritize our lives before we wake up one morning to realize that the body we’ve been trying to cater for was sold long time ago.
Hmmm. That’s the reason why the fortunate and learned should try to reach out to the poor and challenged for the cause of most of these acts is ignorance. Pls, to all the wealthy out there, do not shut many from the bounty of God’s providence simply because of selfishness.