Donating Blood 

I understand the practice is different elsewhere, but I have no experience with it outside Croatia. So...

Why don't people get compensated when they donate blood? If pharmaceutical companies can make loads of money on the drugs they produce, why should individuals give away this one 'drug' their own bodies make for free? Especially considering the fact that the pharmaceutical companies still haven't managed to produce a proper substitute for it. A good meal and lots of fluids, at least, to make up for the spent raw materials... But no. People are supposed to be noble and give themselves for free. While the pharmaceutical companies are not.