Go Lean…Caribbean

Go Lean Commentary

There are so many lessons from China.

There are so many …

… everything in China.

The country has 1.3 billion people. That’s a lot of people. That’s a lot of lessons, good and bad. This commentary is 3 of 6 in consideration the good and bad lessons from China. The other commentaries detailed in this series are as follows:

1. History of China Trade: Too Big to Ignore
2. Why China will soon be Hollywood’s largest market
3. Organ Transplantation: Facts and Fiction
4. Mobile Games Apps: The new Playground
5. South China Seas: Exclusive Economic Zones
6. WeChat: Model for Caribbean Social Media – www.MyCaribbean.gov

All of these commentaries relate to nation-building, stressing the community investments required to facilitate the short-term, mid-term and long-term needs of our communities.

With 1.3 billion people, a country will have all dispositions and statuses: young, old, strong, weak, healthy, and sick. There will always be the need for a range of health care: from preventative all the way up to advanced trauma. Therefore, the need for organ transplantation will arise, maybe even more often than in smaller-populated countries. We can learn a lot by considering China’s vision and values in this dramatic area of modern life.

China has a lot of mileage in the medical history of organ transplantation and the impact on social values. This is a recent history anywhere, as the medical capability only became viable since the 1970’s.

This commentary is in consideration of the book Go Lean…Caribbean; it serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) to provide better stewardship for the region’s economic and healthcare eco-systems. The book actually conveys that healthcare is an economic consideration. It is a matter of life-and-death that requires community investments even when the issue itself is NOT life or death.

There are a lot of preventative health care decisions that community leaders have to make, for example: vaccinations, hospital availability, nursing standards and trauma center logistics. There is a certain level of delivery for Third World countries – the Caribbean member-states are mostly all Third Word. The goal of this Go Lean roadmap is to elevate the region from this status quo. How does the Third World handle advanced healthcare issues like organ transplantation?

Answer: Not well.

The Go Lean book details the sad reality of abuse and exploitation traditionally experienced in Third World cases involving organ transplantations. The book relates (Page 214):

The Bottom Line on Organ Trade
Organ trade is the trade involving inner organs (heart, liver, kidneys, cornea, etc.) of a human for transplantation. In the 1970s pharmaceuticals that prevent organ rejection were introduced. This along with a lack of medical regulation helped foster the organ market. The problem of organ trafficking is widespread, although data on the exact scale of the organ market is difficult to obtain. (Most organ trade involves kidney or liver transplants). There is a worldwide shortage of organs available for transplantation, yet trade in human organs is illegal in all countries, except Iran.

Many countries had a program for legal transplant exchange, but have all universally abandoned the practice.

Most countries now allow donors to give organs if they are related or emotionally close to the recipient. But in China, there is a program for organs to be procured from executed prisoners. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), international organ trade amounted to 66,000 kidney transplants, 21,000 liver transplants, and 6000 heart transplants in 2005, but WHO estimated that 5% of all those procedures where engaged in commercial transactions.

WHO states that, “Payment for…organs is likely to take unfair advantage of the poorest and most vulnerable groups, undermining altruistic donation and leads to profiteering and human trafficking.”

Imagine China; just recently elevating from Third World status; and only in the urban communities. They have billions of people living in the rural areas. It would not be inconceivable that some “bad actors” may view the masses as prime harvesting grounds for organ transplantation. (The Go Lean book posits that “bad actors” are inevitable in every society; the Caribbean history is littered with stories of the emergence of “bad actors”).

Inconceivable? Not according to this news article and VIDEO here:

Title: Angry Claims and Furious Denials Over Organ Transplants in China

HONG KONG — Eyes flashing, lips curled in operatic scorn, a middle-aged woman holding a placard reading “Evil Cult Falun Gong!” ordered me off the sidewalk outside Hong Kong’s convention center, where organ transplant specialists from around the world were gathered.

“Go away!” she shouted. “You’re no good!”

My crime? After interviewing her as she stood with a group called the Anti-Cult Association, she had spotted me interviewing a woman at a competing demonstration of practitioners of Falun Gong, a meditation and exercise-based spiritual practice that the Chinese government outlawed as a cult in 1999, jailing many practitioners. The Anti-Cult Association says it is a civil society organization, but its aims closely reflect the Chinese government’s.

Falun Gong adherents say that after the movement was banned, many were blood-typed in detention, and thousands became a secret source of organs for human transplants. The Chinese government and the Anti-Cult Association, which, according to its website, promotes “Confucian thinking and science,” deny this.

The searing debate over forced organ extraction is not new. For about 15 years it has raged, between the Chinese government and its supporters and Falun Gong practitioners and investigators. But as hundreds of the world’s leading transplant surgeons, including from China, gathered at the Transplantation Society’s biennial meeting in Hong Kong this week and last, the issue seemed more explosive than ever — perhaps because the meeting was on Chinese soil for the first time, bringing the debate closer to home.

The accusations of forced organ extraction were “ridiculous,” Huang Jiefu, a former deputy health minister who is in charge of overhauling China’s organ donation system, said in a speech. The Chinese government says that it switched from a system dependent on executed prisoners to one based on voluntary, nonprisoner donations on Jan. 1, 2015.

“I’m in stress,” Dr. Huang said of the accusations. “I couldn’t sleep well enough at night.”

“There is wild speculation” of “100,000 transplants per year from executed prisoners in China,” he added, possibly conflating the issues of using organs from prisoners convicted of capital crimes and organs from prisoners of conscience.

Some investigators and Falun Gong adherents say that their compiled data from individual hospitals shows at least 60,000 organ transplants a year, about six times the official total of about 10,000 last year, and that the difference is made up by forced organ extractions from prisoners of conscience.

In a cafe at the convention center, David Matas and David Kilgour, who first published a report on the issue in 2006, said they were familiar with the widespread skepticism, even hostility, not just from the Chinese government but from many outside China, including the news media. (An update to their book, “Bloody Harvest,” this time with Ethan Gutmann, author of “The Slaughter,” came out this year.)

The statistics cited by investigators and Falun Gong practitioners are overwhelming, they agreed. And, by definition, the victims are dead, and cannot speak.

“Nameless, voiceless,” said Mr. Kilgour, a former member of the Canadian Parliament.

Many Falun Gong adherents have also alienated people with claims tinged with hysteria, a byproduct of the urgency of the topic and an “in-your-face” propagandistic style widespread in China, they said.

“The Falun Gong community, they don’t read the reports” of human rights organizations, said Mr. Matas, a rights lawyer. “They don’t talk the human rights language, and they’re disorganized. Everybody does what they want,” undercutting their credibility, he said.

What if, one day, the allegations were proved to be true, as accusations of Nazi genocide against the Jews were? How would the Chinese government deal with it then?

“Probably they would say this is an aberration, the responsibility of a few people,” Mr. Matas said.

———

Related:

Chinese Claim That World Accepts Its Organ Transplant System Is Rebutted –  AUG. 19, 2016

Debate Flares on China’s Use of Prisoners’ Organs as Experts Meet in Hong Kong – AUG. 17, 2016

Doctor’s Plan for Full-Body Transplants Raises Doubts Even in Daring China – JUNE 11, 2016

China Bends Vow on Using Prisoners’ Organs for Transplants – NOV. 16, 2015

———

VIDEO – China’s Shocking Military Secret REVEALED – https://youtu.be/bIxE5kZXjsY

Published on Jul 6, 2016 – For more than 15 years, Chinese military hospitals across China have kept a closely guarded secret. Doctors at private hospitals know about it, and even participate. But no one dares reveal it to the public.

Say it ain’t so…

… that “bad actors” in China may exploit a class of people to harvest their organs. The experience of exploiting a class of people is something familiar to the Caribbean. From the history journals, we are reminded of local examples; our region played host to the ethnic cleansing of indigenous people, African Slave Trade & Slavery, and Piracy. The book Go Lean…Caribbean asserts that the vision and values of a community must be conditioned for a society to endure such exploitation. The book describes this “vision and value” factor as the term “community ethos”:

“… the fundamental character or spirit of a culture; the underlying sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of a group or society; dominant assumptions of a people or period; practices of a group or society; dominant assumptions of a people or period” – Page 20.

What is the community ethos of China?

… such that the claims of forced harvesting of organs would gain such notoriety?

This question requires an onsite inspection and investigation. The promoters of the Go Lean movement conducted a structured interview with a Caribbean (Bahamas) Exchange Student who matriculated in China; she made the following contributions to this discussion on China’s vision and values. So as to protect her identity, she is being referred to here as “Bahama Mama“. Consider these responses related to her China experiences:

Give us details of your China experience:

Bahama Mama: I participated in a Exchange Program between the College of the Bahamas and Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, in the Peoples Republic of China. That city, while the largest in Jiangsu with its 8,187,828 residents, is not the largest in China, not even close.

Is China a country that you would consider emigrating to?

Bahama Mama: No. They have a lot more jobs in China, but it is not home. I felt foreign and would probably always feel like a foreigner there.

What were you most impressed with while in China?

Bahama Mama: Their infrastructure to accommodate so many people.

Did you perceive that the voluminous population created a sense of worthlessness among the Chinese people?

Bahama Mama: No. The culture in the country created a sense of value for Chinese people among Chinese people. But the perception is different for foreigners among them; their community sense of worth for foreigners is lower.

The Go Lean book conveys that community ethos can be remediated, that new ethos can be adopted. It is not easy but possible. The book likens the process to “the effort to quit smoking”. This roadmap calls on the CU Trade Federation to take the lead in forging the needed changes to the region’s community ethos as it relates to nation-building. This is Step One in rebooting the economic-security-governing engines. The premise is simple: while we are a different culture than China, people are “the same” everywhere, with good and bad tendencies. Classes of people have also been exploited in our region, while not harvesting for organs, we must be “on guard” for this potential threat.

The Go Lean book details an advocacy for organ transplantation in the Caribbean region, with a focus to be “on guard” for exploitation. The book relates (Page 214) how organ transplantation is to be introduced to the region:

Lean-in for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU)
This [confederation] treaty allows for the unification of the region into one market, thereby expanding to an economy of 30 member-states, 42 million people and a GDP of over $800 Billion (circa 2010). In addition to empowering the economic engines, this treaty calls for a collective security pact for the member-states so as to assuage systemic threats, security risks and organized crime. One CU mission is to eliminate any “black market” viability by installing a regional/federal administration for Organ Donor Registration, Procurement and Distribution for the Caribbean. The CU advocates the policy of presumed consent, (successful in Brazil, US and many EU nations), but different in that “opt-in” is the default setting. Citizens can easily “opt-out” (Drivers License, Medical Directives, Last Will and Testament, witnessed statements to family/friends) or next-of-kin can override [the decision] on-demand.

The challenge for managing an organ transplantation eco-system may be too big for any one Caribbean member-state alone; there is the need for this regional technocracy. The population is far too small in some of our member-states. The whole region is better, while no billions as in China, the 42 million of the entire region is adequate for effective matching. The stewardship for this effort was pronounced in the opening of the Go Lean book, with these statements in the Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 11 – 13):

ix.   Whereas the realities of healthcare and an aging population cannot be ignored and cannot be afforded without some advanced mitigation, the Federation must arrange for … disease management, wellness, mental health, obesity and smoking cessation programs. The Federation must [also] proactively anticipate the demand and supply of organ transplantation as developing countries are often exploited by richer neighbors for illicit organ trade.

xi.   Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xii.  Whereas the legacy in recent times in individual states may be that of ineffectual governance with no redress to higher authority, the accedence of this Federation will ensure accountability and escalation of the human and civil rights of the people for good governance, justice assurances, due process and the rule of law. As such, any threats of a “failed state” status for any member state must enact emergency measures on behalf of the Federation to protect the human, civil and property rights of the citizens, residents, allies, trading partners, and visitors of the affected member state and the Federation as a whole.

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes, including piracy and other forms of terrorism, can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

The Go Lean book, and previous blog/commentaries, stressed the key community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies necessary to provide better stewardship to the Caribbean medical eco-system for an eventual organ transplantation offering. These points are detailed in the book as follows:

There is a lot to learn from the analysis of medical stewardship of other communities. The lessons of successes and failures of other communities’ medical practices and policies were further elaborated upon in these previous blog-commentaries:

China has a large population: 1.3 billion people. Many of its cities have large numbers. As previously mentioned, the City of Nanjing has 8,187,828 residents. Other Chinese cities feature even larger populations:

• Shanghai: 24,256,800
• Beijing: 21,516,000
• Tianjin: 15,200,000
• Guangzhou: 13,080,500
• Shenzhen: 10,467,400
• Dongguan: 8,220,207
• Chongqing: 8,189,800

Source: Retrieved August 27, 2016 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_proper_by_population

Notice the reality for Chinese urban life in the VIDEO here:

VIDEO – Beijing Subway, Line 13, morning rush hour – just a little crowded – https://youtu.be/xG-meaGqg-M

Published on Jul 22, 2013 – July 18, 7:30 am, likely the Xierqi subway station on Line 13. http://beijingcream.com/2013/07/beiji…
Source: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTg0Nzc…

Bullying and class oppression is not so inconceivable with numbers like this.

The Go Lean book relates that this situation is manifested time and again, all over the world. The Go Lean book provides the roadmap to anticipate class oppression, to monitor and mitigate it. The book declares (Page 23):

… “bad actors” will also emerge thereafter to exploit the opportunities, with good, bad and evil intent. A Bible verse declares: “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun” – Ecclesiastes 1:9 New International Version.

We have so many lessons to learn from China. The large population calls for extra mitigations in the area of organ transplantation. The quest for survival by those that are sick (and rich) will cause them to entertain options … at the expense of others… of the lower classes.

That is not justice.

The lesson learned from China is that we must be “on guard” for threats against justice. There must be a justice sentinel for the Caribbean region.

The Caribbean is hereby urged to lean-in to this Go Lean confederation roadmap. Everyone – people, institutions and governments – can benefit from the consideration of this roadmap to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work, heal and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!