On 2014 Jan 10, Christopher Sampson commented:

And who would the 'heroes' be? Those for whom the compensation is most likely to compensate them for the loss of their organ (i.e. the poor).

Here in the UK, when one mentions a hero it is usually in reference to a soldier. The hero narrative is rampant. So who joins the army? In a cursory glance at the literature I find few data for the UK, but plenty for the US. For one, it seems that people are less likely to enlist if they have college educated parents. Why else would the British Army choose to focus its recruitment efforts in the poorest of schools? One wonders whether the (largely) privately educated graduates of Sandhurst will face the same danger to life as their soldier counterparts. Are we really comfortable with our heroes being less well educated than the beneficiaries of their heroism? I, for one, am not.

There is every reason to suspect that the same would apply to living organ donation. The hero narrative is only "appropriate and useful" as a means of dispelling guilt.

On 2014 Jan 10, Christopher Sampson commented:

And who would the 'heroes' be? Those for whom the compensation is most likely to compensate them for the loss of their organ (i.e. the poor).

Here in the UK, when one mentions a hero it is usually in reference to a soldier. The hero narrative is rampant. So who joins the army? In a cursory glance at the literature I find few data for the UK, but plenty for the US. For one, it seems that people are less likely to enlist if they have college educated parents. Why else would the British Army choose to focus its recruitment efforts in the poorest of schools? One wonders whether the (largely) privately educated graduates of Sandhurst will face the same danger to life as their soldier counterparts. Are we really comfortable with our heroes being less well educated than the beneficiaries of their heroism? I, for one, am not.

There is every reason to suspect that the same would apply to living organ donation. The hero narrative is only "appropriate and useful" as a means of dispelling guilt.