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> There's a whole chain of novels by Larry Niven about what might happen when human organs enter a market economy. It assumes it works like any other closely-re

> There's a whole chain of novels by Larry Niven about what might happen when human organs enter a market economy. It assumes it works like any other closely-regulated market, producing a robust black market quickly dominated by organized crime. This is like when people quote Pournelle's Law like it's a fact. The only thing this paragraph means, just like the only thing Pournelle's Law means, is that the person who wrote it is a Republican. It doesn't actually demonstrate anything factual or even related to reality. (You can get paid for plasma and sperm donations but there isn't a black market for those.) > Insurance companies are just parasites, no argument there. They provide insurance, and they're probably more aligned with your interests than the rest of the supply chain is.

tzs 3y ago
> (You can get paid for plasma and sperm donations but there isn't a black market for those.) There were plasma black markets during and after the COVID pandemic [1][2][3][4][5]. There are black markets in sperm [6][7][8][9][10]. [1] https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/exclusive-coronavirus-pandemic-fuels-black-market-for-plasma-of-recovered-patients-1703332-2020-07-22 https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/exclusive-coronavirus-... [2] https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2020/07/iraq-coronavirus-plasma-blood.html https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2020/07/iraq-coronaviru... [3] https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2020/06/egypt-coronavirus-survivors-plasma-black-market.html https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2020/06/egypt-coronavir... [4] https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/12644-blood-plasma-black-market-emerges-in-pakistan-amid-covid-19-crisis https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/12644-blood-plasma-black-mark... [5] https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/medical-experts-warn-against-buying-black-market-plasma-882823 https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/medical-experts-warn-... [6] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-12370461/Facebooks-black-market-sperm-donation-industry-exposed-Wannabe-moms-poor-afford-30-000-IVF-lured-having-unprotected-sex-forced-meet-men-met-online-parking-lots-swap-semen-samples.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-12370461/Facebook... [7] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13298869/sperm-donors-black-market-inconceivable.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13298869/sperm-dono... [8] https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/wild-west-sperm-black-market-32583799 https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/wild-west-sperm-... [9] https://worldcrunch.com/culture-society/undercover-hunt-in-italy39s-black-market-for-sperm-donors https://worldcrunch.com/culture-society/undercover-hunt-in-i... [10] https://www.thehelper.net/threads/seedy-world-of-the-super-sperm-donors-inside-americas-black-market-of-men-who-father-hundreds-demand-natural-insemination-in-motels.193509/ https://www.thehelper.net/threads/seedy-world-of-the-super-s...

tzs 3y ago

> (You can get paid for plasma and sperm donations but there isn't a black market for those.) There were plasma black markets during and after the COVID pandemic [1][2][3][4][5]. There are black markets in sperm [6][7][8][9][10]. [1] https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/exclusive-coronavirus-pandemic-fuels-black-market-for-plasma-of-recovered-patients-1703332-2020-07-22 https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/exclusive-coronavirus-... [2] https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2020/07/iraq-coronavirus-plasma-blood.html https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2020/07/iraq-coronaviru... [3] https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2020/06/egypt-coronavirus-survivors-plasma-black-market.html https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2020/06/egypt-coronavir... [4] https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/12644-blood-plasma-black-market-emerges-in-pakistan-amid-covid-19-crisis https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/12644-blood-plasma-black-mark... [5] https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/medical-experts-warn-against-buying-black-market-plasma-882823 https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/medical-experts-warn-... [6] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-12370461/Facebooks-black-market-sperm-donation-industry-exposed-Wannabe-moms-poor-afford-30-000-IVF-lured-having-unprotected-sex-forced-meet-men-met-online-parking-lots-swap-semen-samples.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-12370461/Facebook... [7] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13298869/sperm-donors-black-market-inconceivable.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13298869/sperm-dono... [8] https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/wild-west-sperm-black-market-32583799 https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/wild-west-sperm-... [9] https://worldcrunch.com/culture-society/undercover-hunt-in-italy39s-black-market-for-sperm-donors https://worldcrunch.com/culture-society/undercover-hunt-in-i... [10] https://www.thehelper.net/threads/seedy-world-of-the-super-sperm-donors-inside-americas-black-market-of-men-who-father-hundreds-demand-natural-insemination-in-motels.193509/ https://www.thehelper.net/threads/seedy-world-of-the-super-s...