Prof. Peter Jaworski: Should You Be Allowed to Buy or Sell Your Kidney?

In this video, Professor Peter Jaworski asks students at Red Square at Georgetown University for their opinion on what should and shouldn't be off limits - and the results might surprise you.

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[JeepJitsu]

I have a basic principal I like, if it's voluntary for both parties and the end result doesnt harm anyone outside the exchange than yup!

[freesk]

I'm a pretty serious minarchist libertarian.  I think ALL of the things on your list should be legal to buy and sell. Our rights to liberty and property come from the assumption (self evident, I maintain) that we each own our own bodies and lives.  Free markets are a direct result of our rights to liberty and property.  So we have a natural RIGHT to a free market in all of these things!  Great video.  Keep up the good work!  :)

[ummmmmmmok]

I believe in truly free markets, so I'm ok with all of the above being sold.

[stevenhorne]

I think that people should be allowed to buy and sell anything that does not violate the unalienable rights of others. If a person wanted to sell their own kidney, it's there kidney, why shouldn't they have the right to make that determination. To sell someone else's kidney—absolutely not! Nothing should be illegal that involves voluntary actions between consenting adults. People should be free to make decisions we might believe are unwise or harmful to themselves, such as smoking or taking drugs, because in my belief the only proper use of force (or violence) is to stop force or violence, or to compel restitution when someone trespasses against the life, liberty or property of another.

[rcapeh]

Yes to everything, your body your choice!

[newtonphile]

I do not understand why it should not be permitted to sell something that it would be permitted for me to give away.

[jowb]

As Leonard E Read said in a book title "Anything That's Peaceful". If A wants to buy it and B wants to sell it and no initiation of force is involved, I am for having a market in it.

[LTNINJA]

These are great videos! I love asking these questions to others and hearing why they give the answers they do. Keep them coming!

[danielmathews]

All yes, you should be able to sell what you own, and you definitely own your own body.

[mstrainjr]

This wasn't exactly a good experiment.  For one thing, you were standing over the students' shoulders and commenting as they made their decisions; and for another, people further down the line could see how others voted, and that may have affected their decisions.  I think a private blind vote would have produced more honest results.

[raj-crnl]

You should be able to sell anything that you'd be able to give away for free.

[Marcara]

The question isn't what we should be allowed to sell but rather if we should force others not to.

[oliverclint]

Saying "I don't think that they should be determined by market forces"
is a lot like saying "I don't think these particular objects should be subject to the universal law of gravity."

[Xanthippaa]

Absolutely yes to all:  a voluntary exchange is only up to the parties involved.

Any prohibition and/or regulation thereof is a violation of the principle of self-ownership, effectively asserting that the State/prohibitor/regulator claims ownership over your body and the products thereof.

[Lechteron]

As long as it's voluntary, it should not be stopped. Stopping those interactions is aggression worthy of self-defense.

[jasnsAm]

Yes to ALL questions...so long as no one was forced (through violence, or coercion) to participate.

Thank you.

[joesmo]

People should be aloud to do whatever they want unless you're causing physical harm to someone else or taking away someone's property.

[EricGragsone]

I certainly agree. We need to draw the line at selling hugs.

[ericplatham]

If there are two individuals capable of understanding and agreeing on the terms of the product or service & price, then it should be allowed.

[JovianKronos]

I think all the things on your list should be bought and sold. I'm not surprised that there's some controversy over selling kidneys.