Monetization
There's this little tab on my dashboard that says [MONETIZE]. It's one of those things that reminds me about the pattern of the world. If you do anything, it's an economic activity. If you cash it in, it's called 'monetization', which means making money out of something (no, it doesn't mean forging French impressionist paintings).
The other word I've had to become familiar with is 'marketization'. My supervisor has spent many years investigating the marketization of Atlantean (and Lemurian) education. Essentially, education is no longer a public good provided from a common fund, but something to be hawked about, like bolts of cloth or whores at a brothel. You have to advertise. You have to promise all kinds of nebulous and enticing services. You have a stake in the marketplace of ideas, and ripping off other people's ideas is just one possible strategy.
In Atlantis, everything is monetized and marketized. The latest thing is kidneys. You can now legally accept inducements and bribes to sell a kidney.
I have no fears that this is a slippery slope though. It is more like a steep staircase down which somebody will likely fall and break his neck, thus at one fell stroke donating all his organs and miscellaneous body parts to the common good. It isn't a slippery slope because a live patient can only donate so many parts before ceasing to live. Skin and blood can be donated and they will regenerate, but until you develop a regen-drug for kidneys and livers and spleens and suchlike, similar organ harvesting will not happen — and if such a regen-drug is available, why should it happen?
What I fear (well not really, since I fear very little) is that people will note that you can now legally get lots of loot for selling a kidney, and that there probably isn't much percentage in allowing your parts (post-mortem) to go to the common pool. You might as well tell your family to keep your organs for the highest bidder, thus voiding your need for life insurance. Now, when Papa passes, you can sell all his parts and get far richer than by claiming his piddling little insurance — especially in these days when insurance companies seem to be decaying faster than such body parts.
Such is the pattern of the world. Wait for it. It will come to pass.
The other word I've had to become familiar with is 'marketization'. My supervisor has spent many years investigating the marketization of Atlantean (and Lemurian) education. Essentially, education is no longer a public good provided from a common fund, but something to be hawked about, like bolts of cloth or whores at a brothel. You have to advertise. You have to promise all kinds of nebulous and enticing services. You have a stake in the marketplace of ideas, and ripping off other people's ideas is just one possible strategy.
In Atlantis, everything is monetized and marketized. The latest thing is kidneys. You can now legally accept inducements and bribes to sell a kidney.
I have no fears that this is a slippery slope though. It is more like a steep staircase down which somebody will likely fall and break his neck, thus at one fell stroke donating all his organs and miscellaneous body parts to the common good. It isn't a slippery slope because a live patient can only donate so many parts before ceasing to live. Skin and blood can be donated and they will regenerate, but until you develop a regen-drug for kidneys and livers and spleens and suchlike, similar organ harvesting will not happen — and if such a regen-drug is available, why should it happen?
What I fear (well not really, since I fear very little) is that people will note that you can now legally get lots of loot for selling a kidney, and that there probably isn't much percentage in allowing your parts (post-mortem) to go to the common pool. You might as well tell your family to keep your organs for the highest bidder, thus voiding your need for life insurance. Now, when Papa passes, you can sell all his parts and get far richer than by claiming his piddling little insurance — especially in these days when insurance companies seem to be decaying faster than such body parts.
Such is the pattern of the world. Wait for it. It will come to pass.
Labels: Finance, Insurance, Market Forces, Money, Organs
etched with acid at 5:15:00 pm
2 Comments:
No need to wait too long; I'll probably be a test case. Remind my daughter if she forgets, will you?
Does this constitute a legal injunction? *grin*
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