So the other week there was collective quivering over the internet at the news that a Chinese teenager had sold his kidney to pay for an iPad 2. I say quivering, because It was an immediate viral hit, a perfect combination of the pre-eminent SEO-friendly technology, body horror, stupid-teens-making-dumb-decisions-for-latest-must-have-item narrative and a conveniently obscure provenance, as if the story had been precisely manufactured by the same Shenzhen factories that Apple uses to make its gadgets.
And so, the world rolled its eyes and tutted at the foolishness of youth and decried Steve Jobs yes Steve Jobs who obviously bore personal responsibility for this for making his products just so goddam desirable. But here's the thing: what should Little Zheng have spent the money on? Isn't selling your kidney to buy something you need a far greater tragedy than selling it to buy something you want?
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Of course it's fine for aging movie stars to have their faces surgically mutilated till they look like bloated Pekingese (the dog breed, nit the humans who live in Beijjng). There are much worse things happening in China, in the organ trade, among teenagers, and to the slaves who make our beloved electronic toys. It's sad that Zheng made this choice and I agree, it would actually be sadder if he'd sold his kidney to, say, pay his taxes.
This is a very good point. I think organ trading is like prostitution or long working hours: if people want to do it then fine, but it's often banned as a simple (if not actually effective) way to stop people being forced into it (and/or right-wing legislation of morality). This is exactly the sort of organ sale that shouldn't be a problem, except that the seller was under 18 and that there is a problem with a society where such a luxury item is seen as important enough to go to this length for (although that's not quite what actually happened).
Had it been in the UK, there's also the problem that it would almost certainly have been cheaper for the NHS to buy the guy an iPad and a laptop than to fund his healthcare after the surgery -- but if it did, everyone would threaten to sell their kidneys if the NHS didn't give them whatever shiny new jabscreen was popular that week.
It's interesting that none of the reports I saw of this story contrasted "Little Zheng" with the spate of suicides in the factory making the iPad. The symmetry is rather gruesome.