© UnknownDonation according to Larry David
In his highly acclaimed TV satire 'Curb Your Enthusiasm', LA screen writer and
comedian Larry David engages courageously with subjects to do with American Jewish identity. In his fifth season (2005) David tackles the subject of organ donation.
1 Performing an American eccentric and egotistical Jew, David is confronted with a serious dilemma. His best friend Richard Lewis (another Jewish comedian) happens to suffer an acute kidney failure. His survival is dependent on an urgent kidney donation and as one may expect Larry David is the perfect donor. David, who comes across as the ultimate selfish persona in American popular culture is obviously reluctant to donate his Kidney. He procrastinates, finds excuses and plays
games. He even tries to make friends with a wealthy
Orthodox Jew who is in a position to 'sort things out' as far as kidneys are concerned. He does it all just to avoid donating his own kidney to his best and closest friend.
As the plot develops, David has hired a Private Detective to discover who his real parents are, David learns from this private detective that he is actually an adopted child. Once meeting with his genetic parents David also finds out that he is not exactly a Jew. He is actually a proper Christian of Scottish descent. David is very excited about his new ethnic identity and faith. Instantly, without giving it too much of a thought, he becomes an empathetic person. His egotistic attitude disappears without leaving any traces. He suddenly cares about others. He evolves into a sympathetic boring compassionate ordinary human being. It doesn't take more than a few scenes before we see David attending Sunday service with his new 'parents' in their local Church. It is there where he learns from the priest that 'to give' is actually 'to receive'.
Comment: The constant refrain to India and China's "exploding population" in this article attributes blame to their voracious appetites. This racial undertone was similarly expressed by Germany's Angela Merkel last year: The reality is that most of the world's starving people are in Asia. Most of the world's largest consumers are in the West, from where corporations backed by military force are hoarding what remains of arable land in the poorest countries. The 'food rush' is exaccerbating an already precarious situation as cooling temperatures threaten shorter growing seasons.