Liver: $1.29/Lb

I don’t care that Steve Jobs got a new liver possibly because he’s rich. I really don’t.

I know that I should. I know that I should be yelling and screaming about how unfair it is that money can buy things.

But I’m not. I’m also not writing a blog post on how wet water is, how sweet sugar is or how hot the afternoons are in June in Tennessee.

If Steve Jobs actually bought a liver I suppose I might stop to give a thought to how unethical it is. But Steve Jobs is the reason a lot of the people I know have jobs. (Ignoring obvious joke opportunity.) Steve Jobs wealth didn’t come from cheating or stealing* or the blood of Chinese immigrants. He revolutionised the personal computer industry twice and created an industry from the ground up with the iPod. I guess I figure he’s enriched the lives of millions of people already so if he wants to find a way to make his last a little longer I’m okay with that.

He didn’t buy his liver, we are all somehow agreed on that. But we’re also agreed that he had advantages about getting properly placed to get that liver. I know that isn’t fair.

But I’ll be honest. I read about Steve Jobs’ liver the same way I read romance novels and books about people who win the lottery and biographies of the Beatles. I like a story where something good happens to someone. I like watching people fall in love and become successful and have their financial needs met. I like the bizarre sense of justification that comes from watching someone else triumph over red tape and nonsense. I figure I’ve got to put up with the run-around enough that it’s fun to go to a place where someone else can cut through the crap and get results.

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*I’m refraining from dredging up the whole PARCXerox thing.