I think, there is a general belief that blood bank reserves are practically most of the time at low levels, a veritable scarce resource. As a quick search on Google shows, blood supply emergency and corresponding calls for donation are global and frequent. Exceptional conditions like Swine flu outbreaks may affect blood bank reserves. Red Cross Finland Blood Service has a Blood Barometer on its website that shows (at least right now) alarming low supply levels for all groups but AB+.
The following thought is likely to anger perhaps most of the folks who fight against government intervention, as NYT reports, a government “in violation of what the founding fathers intended [its] size and scope […] to be.” Why don’t we mandate blood donation?
Outrageous? Perhaps. Consider this: We seem to accept The Draft or the Swiss militia – and similar “involuntary labor demanded by an established authority.” Note, forms of government intervention in the freedom of women and men for what we are told to be needs that are, I believe, typically less noble than blood donation.