Although AIDS has survived four presidencies, three recessions, and one or two genocides along the way, it is a relatively young disease as diseases go historically. It took thousands of years to eradicate small pox and about as long to abolish (almost) the polio scourge. But hopefully not so long to eradicate AIDS. The world cannot continue to watch as millions die, and millions more are orphaned.
While terrorism is surely an enormous threat to world stability, it does not overshadow AIDS. HIV has the potential of destabilizing governments, nations, and entire continents. Without a viable vaccine on the horizon, HIV will not be deterred by science, industry, or government if it is aided and abetted by narrow-minded politicans and religious leaders alike. The religious right in this country and moralizing church leaders around the world have rejected out-of-hand the readily available condom.
What is cheaper? A condom or a lifetime of treatment? That is not a hard question to answer even for the mathematically impaired White House. And it’s a difficult question for church leaders in Africa, or political leaders in Russia and Thailand. And while Japan and China are in an enviable geographical and financial position to both promote and produce life-saving condoms throughout Southeast Asia, their cooperative efforts to spearhead condom distribution are being hampered by bureaucratic red tape. In this hemisphere, Washington continues to promote safer sex (especially among the young) as if it was only something to do as a last resort. Abstinence first, please.
In this month’s exclusive cover story, Dustin Hoffman—movie star, AIDS philanthropist, and dad—tells A&U’s Dann Dulin that “there’s an epidemic of media in this country...more than at any other time in the history of the planet, information is right at your fingertips and yet, if you were to take a poll, wouldn’t you find that people still view AIDS as a gay disease?” Well put, Mr. Hoffman. Education is the key to preventing infections and ending the AIDS crisis. As Hoffman is wont to say, stick to the facts and you won’t get into trouble.
And voting into office educators, not warmongers, is also a good idea. But the last two Presidents who actually taught school were Woodrow Wilson and Lyndon Baines Johnson. So it looks like we don’t have a tradition of voting teachers into the highest office in the land. Just an actor, and dozens of lawyers and generals.
So with members of the legal, acting, and military professions far outweighing the number of teaching professionals becoming President, it’s up to us voters to find out how well-educated our national leaders really are about AIDS. If only it were that easy.
What will our votes mean for the next four years? Will we bring an end to the AIDS crisis? Probably not. Will we improve healthcare for the average American living with HIV? Possibly. I believe in the facts. And the facts speak for themselves: HIV infections are increasing rapidly once again. ADAPs around the country are in peril. The way our politicians are fighting the HIV epidemic in this country is reflected in the laissez-faire approach that America takes in its so-called leadership role in fighting the disease elsewhere.
What to do? It’s time to think about the rights and responsibilities that we have as citizens to uphold our democratic form of government. One way is to vote. On November 2, take to the streets, get in the voting booth, and pull that lever. If you don’t vote, then you don’t have the right to complain. It’s that simple.
October 2004
