This is disturbing:
According to The Washington Post:
Authorities have indicted five people in central China for involvement in illegal organ trading after a teenager sold one of his kidneys to buy an iPhone and an iPad.
The case has prompted an outpouring of concern that not enough is being done to guard against the negative impact of increasing consumerism in Chinese society, particularly among young people who have grown up with more creature comforts than the generations before them.
First of all, while you don’t hear of American teens selling a kidney for an iPad, that doesn’t mean we’re not just as scarily consumerist and self-destructive.
I can’t help but wonder where our need to acquire more stuff, our need to keep up with the latest trends, will end. There are many reports of families who are hundreds of thousand of dollars in debt, but still have four televisions with 800+ channels on them and a brand new cell phone.
I know that, to some degree, my own family is guilty of our own form of this self-destructive need to consume… I personally have a love affair with designer jeans and fantastic white tee shirts, and my husband is one of the millions of Americans who finds himself lusting after the latest model of cellphone the moment it’s announced.
My heart goes out to this teenage boy and hope he has a long healthy life full of better decisions, and that we all try to see what organs we’re selling at the expense of our health and security… Metaphorically, of course. 
Photo courtesy of bfishadow
About Joanna Schroeder
It’s especially resonant given china’s relationship with foxconn and others.
Well I was ‘given’ my kidneys by my dad and mum so they have sentimental value…but lets do a product comparison shall we?
If my Kidney was an iPad
…it would only process my blood if it contained substances approved by my parents
…my parents would actually own my kidneys and, theoretically, could obtain a court injunction preventing me from using them. There would be an ongoing argument between my parents and my aunts and uncles as to who actually had rights over my kidneys. My grandad would simply growl something about ignorant young whippersnappers and sue them all.
…my kidneys would need frequent modification with genetic injections as food and drink substances changed and my kidneys could not handle it; this would be a problem particularly if I travelled to another country with different dietary norms. I would however be able to obtain swift delivery of these injections as long as I wasn’t resident in any one of a long list of proscribed countries for fear they would export their food.
…I could not receive a blood transfusion unless I receive the update genetic injections to permit the kidneys to recognise the temporary addition of blood that was not quite mine. These injections would not always work and might require I source new kidneys from my parents.
…I could only see a doctor or surgeon approved by my parents who would have access to my kidney’s specifications as long as they paid the required fee. A surgeon would require a specific scalpel to access the protective tissue surrounding my kidney and if it was cut using the wrong technique he/she would void the warranty on my kidneys
…My kidneys would have specific operating temperatures and if they failed because of operation outside these parameters, or even close to 50% of these parameters, or in fact any temperature my parents didn’t particularly approve of, then I would have to source new kidneys from my parents.
…Sometimes, for no reason, my kidneys would stop working and I’d have to have them returned to my parents to be fixed, or a duly designated genetic relative. Any and all previously injected modifications for approved foods, special treats and my local curry house would be purged and I’d have to pay to have the treatments again.
…Occasionally, and worrisomely, my kidneys would catch fire requiring complete replacement and additional cost for my food stuff tolerance injections.
… My kidneys would not work as effectively when subject to direct sunlight, they would have trouble recognising the bits floating in my blood
…My kidneys would only work four hours out of every 24, the other 18 hours they would need to remain dormant while resting. I would have to remain close to a source of approved food that would rejuvenate my kidneys and this food could only be obtained from my parents.
I think I’ll pass on the kidney – iPad trade thanks.