I would not withhold blood from anyone who needs it, no matter how much of a jerk they are, but I am leaning towards the (admittedly unpopular) belief that memb

I would not withhold blood from anyone who needs it, no matter how much of a jerk they are, but I am leaning towards the (admittedly unpopular) belief that members of society should have an obligation to donate at least a minimal amount on occasion. Blood is a funny case because we have a huge never-ending need for fresh blood, and a great number of people (est. 1/3 to 1/2 the population) are eligible to donate, yet very few do. Globally we're so desperate for supply that, even though the WHO has set a goal of 100% non-paid volunteer donors due to safety concerns, we do still have to pay people, and America sells a lot of blood overseas to all those other countries who are too cautious to pay their donors cash outright. Tons of people are perfectly willing to donate blood. That's not even the problem. In the aftermath of a disaster, blood centers near the disaster area often have so many donors they have to throw some of it away. People are not that afraid of needles, or unwilling to help their fellow humans. They just don't, usually. Living in my developed country with all of its benefits has costs. I pay taxes to help fund the general welfare, and may be called to serve on a jury, or even go fight in a war. Calling on a few people to give blood doesn't sound too onerous to me. I don't claim to have the answer, but I think everyone agrees we can do a lot better than what we've got now.