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Welcome to Life Noggin.
Would you be willing to let some sketchy guy slice you open in his basement to harvest
one of your kidneys?
What if you were promised a nice chunk of money in return?
I really hope your answer is still no, but for some people, this payout is apparently
well worth the risk.
While my animated body is valued at basically nothing, your human bodies are pretty valuable.
Just how much is the human body worth?
Let’s add it up.
Black market organ harvesting from dead and living people is an incredibly huge and lucrative
industry.
It’s estimated to be worth a whopping one billion dollars.
In this market, kidneys alone are sold to people in need for about $140,000 a pop.
And some organs go for even more.
Take lungs for example.
Estimates value a set of lungs at almost $300,000!
And the almighty heart?
A whopping $595,000.
But the people selling to the black market are only paid a tiny fraction of these selling
prices.
The rest goes to the middle-men and women making the transactions.
And it’s not just major organs, all kinds of valuable body parts are in demand on the
black market.
Do you think these 1s and 0s would go for anything, because i have a lot of them!
Underground organ sales and transplantations originally came about for a number of reasons,
but a major one is the fact that the legal organ transplantation system is seriously
lacking.
Recent estimates quote that there are over 100,000 people on transplant waiting lists
in the United States alone and 20 of them die waiting each day.
So, when people are desperate, sometimes they turn to the black market in a last-ditch attempt
to save their lives.
With $1 billion floating around this illegal market and massive organ shortages affecting
so many people, some are starting to question whether you should be allowed to sell your
organs.
Which got me to thinking, does anywhere allow this?
Kind of, yes.
In Iran, people can sell their kidneys through the government, which then gives them to patients
who need them.
This very progressive practice came into play in the 1990s in response to the huge shortage
of donated kidneys.
It’s been extremely effective and now Iran is one of the few countries in the world without
a kidney shortage.
But it’s more than major organs like kidneys and hearts that are in demand.
On the black market, skull and teeth sets are sold for about $1,200.
Small intestines, $2,500.
Blood, about $3,000.
Bones and ligaments add up to roughly $5,000.
Corneas clock in around $20,000.
And skin is also surprisingly valuable, with the average person’s outer layer being worth
about $24,000.
All making you a pretty pricey product.
Now, keep in mind that these estimates are just that, estimates.
There’s no official price list for black market organ sales.
But when we take all these price points into account, the human body seems to be worth
over $1,000,000 on the black market!
Does anyone want both my legs, because my animator can just give me new ones!
So how do you feel about all this!?
Would you ever consider donating your organs? or
let us know in the comment section below what we should talk about next?
Curious to know what happens after you die? Check out this video!
The bacteria in your gastrointestinal track will start to break down tissues and cells.
liquefying your body and producing horrific smelling gases like methane and hydrogen sulfide.
as always, my name is Blocko, this has been Life Noggin, don't forget to keep on thinking!