A Letter to the American Association of Blood Banks
by Steven Thomas Druckenmiller
Some background: Recently, I saw the ad which I described in my letter below to the American Association of Blood Banks. The ad sickened me, literally and immediately revulsed my sense of life. In a brief effort, I hope that someone at this organization at least reads my letter, and, even if nothing comes of it, that a seed is planted.
TEXT OF LETTER:
To whom it may concern-
As a committed blood donor (I give exactly every 56 days), I appreciate the importance of donating blood. I usually go "above and beyond" and give the 'Double-Red Cells' when asked because I have a relatively rare blood type. In all, I would say that I wholly support the move to encourage folks to donate blood.
Which brings me to my larger point; recently, I viewed an advertisement featuring a man in a barber's chair. The man is receiving a straight-razor shave when medical workers sneak in on him and prepare to bang a loud cymbal. The tagline "We're tired of asking nicely" accompanies the ad, which seems to imply that the medical workers are going to disturb the barber, therefore cutting the man's throat so that the blood for which you are so tired of "asking nicely" is available.
In a few words, I find this disgusting and disturbing.
First, implied humor at a man getting his throat cut just isn't funny; it's sick. Secondly, I give blood because I can, because I want to help. The overall tone of your ad about being tired of asking is as insulting as it is insipid. To suggest that people owe you blood, that you've grown tired of rationally enticing people to help is simply immoral.
You're not entitled to blood, people are not obligated to give. If you want blood, continue to "ask nicely". Better yet, petition your local, state and federal lawmakers and use your undoubtedly powerful influence to pressure Congress to allow you to buy blood. You see, in areas where people are willing to pay for a product, said product is astoundingly abundant. How much bread, as an example, do you think would be available if, instead of paying for it, people were asked to bake it and donate it to others? There would be some, assuredly, but it would not be of the quality nor of the abundance as there is in our free-market system. I am sure that you can see this same argument can be applied to organs and other donations.
In short, I cannot stand, as a willing donor of blood, to hear the sheer audacity of some who act as if their donation makes them morally superior to others. Your ad, which suggests that you are entitled to blood and that those who do not give should be the object of scorn, epitomizes this attitude. Instead of spending your donated dollars on terrible ads such as the one described above (and a significant portion of people to whom I have spoken on this say they are/would be horrified at such an ad), spend it to make blood donation a market, so that instead of relying on the "good will of humanity", rely on the invisible hand and the natural ebb and flow of honest trade.
Please contact me with any concerns, questions or comments.
Steven Druckenmiller
Committed Blood Donor
Discuss this Article (24 messages)
|
