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the opinion post follow-up… uh, post.

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So here it is, the follow up post to the post I wrote a few days ago requesting the answer to this question:

If you could describe the state of HIV and AIDS today, how would you describe it?

Alright, first of all, I didn’t realize something until sometime yesterday, which I honestly don’t know why I didn’t realize it sooner, but I think that I unintentionally intimidated people by posting this question, because of where I work. I have been pretty frank with my feelings about public health because of where I work, my educational background, and what I believe, and I know that did prevent some folks from responding and thinking that their perspective mattered. For that, I wish I would have realized it, and accommodated accordingly, but alas, I did not, and there it is. Regardless, I got some great perspectives, and I will focus on those, rather than the intimidation.

First of all, I got a strong sense of complacency that people recognize with respect to HIV/AIDS today. People definitely feel that HIV isn’t as focused on today, mainly because of the availability of treatments, and the diminished face of AIDS in the news and in the media. Basically, we try to cover up the real need for help with campaigns for ipods, and that just reinforces that sense of complacency. In addition to this complacency, we have become disillusioned to believe that the treatments available for HIV have actually made this a manageable disease that isn’t so difficult to live with; as, again, is illustrated by the lack of the true face of AIDS in the media and on the news. In addition to the complacency, many see that HIV/AIDS is hidden, and this is illustrated by the belief that HIV isn’t as bad in industrialized nations, and that the people that tend to become infected in the US are junkies, and really high risk individuals; not just anyone who happens to put themselves at risk by simply having sex.

This is the new, current face of HIV. There is a lack of reality, and it has caused us to see the disease as it isn’t. We don’t see it as a problem that we still face day to day, because we have it “under control”, and because we have “treatments” that will “let us live happy healthy lives” if we should somehow become infected. Sadly, this complacency for the disease is exactly what is wrong with the stance we have taken in fighting the epidemic. Many correctly pointed out the sheer willful ignorance in the lack of proper education for our nation’s youth, and the improper use of “values” that impose horribly useless abstinence only tactics to try and convince teens to not having sex. Regardless of this “head in the sand” take on preventing teen pregnancy and HIV transmission among youth, many of you again correctly surmised that these tactics are not only NOT working, but they are doing way more harm in the process. And that level of complacency is unacceptable.

The reason I initially posted this question, was because I was going over the data from the study that I work on, and a continual theme among the respondents was that HIV was not only manageable, but it wasn’t really that big of a deal anymore. People didn’t see the disease as a problem, and I wanted to see if that was reflective of the general population as well; well, at least the general population of people that read my blog. What I found was a similar belief, only with a definitive higher level of concern and awareness of that complacency; which was to be expected from those that are smart enough to be pretty internet savvy.

I also wanted to write this, because I honestly feel like the problem that is causing this increased complacency with the disease, and with the active participation of people in this country in preventing the spread of it, rests on only a few specific things. First, there is a major problem with people thinking that HIV is readily treatable, and is actually a manageable disease. HIV is still a terminal illness, and the drugs that you take for it are not like taking an aspirin for a headache. There are horrible side effects. Those drugs cost thousands of dollars, and without them, people still die quickly. This does even take into account the drug resistant strains of HIV, which are certainly a faster death sentence. The point I am trying to make, is that when the pharmaceutical companies portray a happy healthy HIV positive gay man in their ads, they are reinforcing a belief that having HIV isn’t really all that bad. That does so much harm, because it lulls us into a sense of complacency, and as we all saw, as represented by your comments, that is a large part of the problem. The pharmaceutical companies have got to change the way they portray the disease, as well as the media at large. Until we start to see the true face of AIDS again, much like we did in the early and late 80’s, we are only back peddling. Things have got to change. The face of AIDS must be seen, or the problem will continue to get worse. Part of the reason we don’t see this face of AIDS, is because that face has largely gone more and more brown over the years, and it is easy for the media to turn away from the disenfranchised. Again, this is bad, bad news for the epidemic. Hopefully, through our own awareness and education, we can all start to make changes.

The other problem that comes from this complacency, is the belief that we cannot be infected, which is largely a part of the media ignoring the disease, that is, except to sell a red ipod. Sure, it does some good, and we do help out a few of those suffering in Africa, but it isn’t enough. This is just putting a band-aid on a gaping wound, and it is clear that it is hurting more than helping. This lack of real action and realistic exemplification of the disease, displaces our belief that we are still at risk every time we have sex. Additionally, risk factors like drug use are rampant throughout the gay community, and this increases risk of HIV transmission so much so, that it makes me dizzy. Yet, people are still willing to take these risks. But why? Because they have displaced HIV to another part of the world, or to another community other than their own, and that, coupled with the idea that it is treatable, creates and implements a fatal combination of complacency and ignorance. It is used as an excuse for someone who was already looking for a way to say, “nope, not me, no need to worry”.

I am sorry this post is as long as it is, but this is something that is truly passionate to me, and something I hope to do good with in my life. I want my mark on this world to be a positive benefit towards public health, and if that means helping one person, or many people, understand the real causes that force the epidemic to go on, then I am doing good. We must make pharmaceutical companies change their advertising methods. AIDS is not a pretty disease. You will not get infected, and then live a normal life. HIV should not be something we are complacent about, and we must really protect our youth. We must be more vocal about HIV, and make it way more visible. We must inform ourselves, and we must be realistic about this; because if we aren’t, it will just continue down this same old road. AIDS isn’t going anywhere, and it is just as bad as it was before; sure, more people are living longer lives, and there are less instances of HIV becoming AIDS, but HIV infection is still VERY high, even here in the US. Yet, still, we pretend that it isn’t a major concern. And that, is what’s wrong. We focus on getting people tested, without worrying about preventing them from getting the disease. We worry about knowing your status, but only for the few that believe they are at risk. This needs to extend to everyone, and HIV needs to become something that is talked about again. HIV needs to be made real again.

Thanks for weighing in your opinions, and feel free to weigh in more if you would like. I think finding a holistic view of the state of HIV today is a great conversation to move us out of complacency, and into really talking about and dealing with the epidemic. Until then, there are only a few that are forced to do the heavy lifting, and I for one, would like to see us coming in to help them carry the burden. It is up to us, we are the generation that can affect this change, and we need to get on it now.

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I would like to get your opinion on something…

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Here’s what I want: I am going to ask you a question, and I want everyone to give me their answers in the form of a comment. Here’s the deal, there are NO wrong answers, but there are answers that will be examined to determine where their epistemological background stems from. No one will be attacked (by me) for their answers, and a follow up post will be posted with a reaction to the consensus.

Ready?

Here’s the question:

If you could describe the state of HIV and AIDS today, how would you describe it? Things to consider: the history of HIV/AIDS, the fact that we are 30 years into the epidemic, treatments available, people that are open about their status, social stigma, the face of AIDS, personal experience with the disease or with people with the disease, life with the disease: better, worse, ?, risk of infection, societal response to the disease, what HIV/AIDS means to you, etc.

Nothing is taboo with regards to what you should consider to answer that question, you can say whatever, and I really want you to be honest; I really want to know what people think about HIV/AIDS right now.

Alright. Give it some thought, but PLEASE give me your opinion. I look forward to your responses!

UPDATE: 3:00pm, perhaps the lack of any response is a testament of how unimportant HIV/AIDS is to people these days? Just a theory, but an interesting one… Still, I hope to get some opinions. No pressure…

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alright kids…

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Let’s play nice, alright?

It has come to my attention that there are people that read my blog, comment on my blog, and want to comment on my blog that feel a certain and specific sense of unnecessary negative attack from those that defend their points so vigorously, that they feel the need to personally attack people, and make others seem like idiots in order to “prove their point”. I wish I didn’t need to say anything, because I honestly believe that when people argue in that style, that it makes them seem like the juvenile ones, or the idiots themselves (since this is the only way they feel they can emerge victorious from debate), but since it has been addressed to me personally by someone who reads my blog, I feel the need to say this:

Don’t attack the people that read or comment my blog personally because they don’t agree with your opinions. Stick to the point, and actually argue your position; by sticking to the subject, and refraining from calling people terrorists because they don’t agree with you, or continually saying “LIBERAL” at the top of your lungs to future hammer home how crazy they are, instead of coming across as a narrow minded asshole, you will actually come across as educated and able to offer a different opinion. This type of debate and dialogue is much more productive in trying to get each side to see the potential for truth in a differing of opinion, and is much more fruitful. Let’s face it, if you say, “I’m right, and you’re wrong because you are a terrorist sympathizing idiotic asshole”, I don’t care if you are pointing out that the sky is blue, you have instantly turned me off to your opinion because you are trying to belittle me into believing it. That doesn’t work, and takes away any ability for you to seem credible and actually argue an opinion that may have factual points. Again, taking a stance with dialogue that does NOT resort to a personal attack on people that may share the same views as I do is essential to future commenting here on this blog; because you don’t have to do that to prove a point… people are more likely to believe you if you stick to the facts and stay away from attacking their intelligence.

So here’s what I want to see in the future: Argue all you want, feel free to say what you want, but please refrain from going for the throat and personally attacking people that don’t agree with you. It makes them want to ignore you, and honestly, it makes you seem like a bully, and in fact, provides us with evidence that a bully is probably what you actually are. I know that you probably don’t want that, and I know that I would rather see a productive dialogue, rather than see a finger pointing shout fest. I personally hope that everyone can hold a certain code of conduct with regards to arguing their opinion, and refrain from personally attacking other people in the future; all under the guise of “well, I’m right and they aren’t”; because it is clear to me, that it is turning people OFF. What we want, instead, is a dialogue, okay?

The best way to get someone to ignore what you are saying is to continually insult them or their intelligence when you argue your points; that is something that needs to be realized and accommodated for in future debates, okay? I hope that this post will foster more productive, and less personally attacking debates; I want everyone to be heard without fear of personal derogatory attacks for no reason other than disagreement. The most important point of this post, is that those personal attacks are not only unnecessary, they are just bullying tactics that people use to defend themselves when they realize they may be wrong, or don’t want to see that someone else could be right. I know that certainly, no one wants that to be the way they come across, now, right?

So, for the future, let’s play nice, kids! Everyone deserves the respect that you are given, so think about that when you argue!

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they are the poor and the homeless; not the lazy

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Do people really think that people are poor, live in poverty, or are homeless because they are too lazy to do anything about it? I ask, because I know that there are a few readers and commenters that have either hinted that they believe this, or have stated it repeatedly. While I do always welcome comments and opinions here on this blog, I also ask this question, because it upsets me that people over simplify serious issues in this manner, in order to justify their beliefs and make themselves feel better about the problem. I ask this, because I couldn’t just let it go without saying what I truly think and feel about this subject. And so, this blog post is born.

To begin, I will illusrate just a few of the real reasons why we have poverty and homelessness in this country:

  • mental illness
  • lack of affordable health care
  • lack of jobs that pay living wages
  • addiction
  • veterans that lack the support they require upon returning home wounded
  • domestic violence
  • bad luck (living paycheck to paycheck, and then something bad happens you can’t control)
  • accidents (which coincides with the lack of affordable health care, as well as bad luck)
  • lack of ability to compete for living wages (education, or more importantly, the lack thereof)
  • disability
  • decrease in public assistance for those that need it

The sad fact is, that these are just a few of the reasons people are living in poverty, or are homeless. Are these all of the reasons? No. But, you have to realize and understand that not all people start out with the same opportunities in life. The American dream is not real for most people, and most will never truly see a rags to riches story written about their lives. Many people that live in this country live paycheck to paycheck, with little or no savings in the bank; barely making ends meet to feed their family, and themselves. If something happens, something unexpected, something that you cannot afford, you have to choose; what goes? Power? Food? Clothes? Home? Car? These are the real facts that many people face everyday. Working more isn’t going to solve this problem. If you are sick, you can’t work, and if you can’t work, you can’t get the medical attention you need to get better. It is a vicious cycle. The fact is, that these people aren’t lazy. They aren’t looking for a free hand out or a free ride. They are looking to survive.

Without decent wages, affordable housing, and a chance, they won’t. They can’t. The system, that is, our capitalistic system, is built to exploit and forget about them. But it doesn’t have to be that way. First we use them for jobs that we won’t do, and then we turn a blind eye to their troubles, all the while those at the top of those very exploitative corporations cash multi-million dollar annual paychecks. Again, many of these people aren’t lazy at all; working two jobs just to make ends meet and still, they can’t get a leg up. They work and try, but yet, they can’t seem to get out of debt, and are at a constant risk of losing their homes. If they get sick, it could result in a loss of everything.

Sure, there are people that are lazy out there that are looking for a hand out. In fact, there are many lazy people that lucked out, and got all the money and power that they could ever want or need from their families. They did absolutely no work for it, they just happened to be born to the right people at the right time. And there are those that are too lazy to do anything that live in poverty, too; but I refuse to allow people to classify all people suffering from the effects of poverty and homelessness as lazy. Lazy is not a cause of poverty, lazy is a choice, lazy can change. Blaming homelessness and poverty on laziness is sheltered and ignorant. Survival isn’t as easy as “don’t be lazy”.

I write this because I was upset at some comments that transpired on previous posts about homeless people and people that live in poverty in this country. Mainly, it really pisses me off that people don’t realize that there are any number of contextual factors that contribute to a person’s daily life, and they continue to deny these things to justify their own selfish beliefs. If you truly believe that all poverty-stricken people, and all homeless people are the cause of their own problems, and are all just looking for a hand out, you are not only out of touch with reality, you are obviously not cognizant of the fact that each and every one of us, given a shitty set of circumstances, could end up right where these people are.

I know that I don’t have tons of money in the bank, and if a myriad of problems were to suddenly occur, I could be facing many of these problems. In fact, we all could (at least, those of us not lucky enough to be born with a silver spoon in our mouths). But the reality that I could face poverty or homelessness isn’t because I am lazy, it is because this is the way the world works, and sometimes, it isn’t enough to just want to survive.

Sometimes, as a part of calling ourselves a society, we have to help those that cannot help themselves. We have to empower those that do not have the voice to empower themselves. If we don’t, we will never truly respect that delicate balance in which we too are a part of; you never know when you are going to be the one in need. You never know when you are going to need that hand to help you up, and hopefully, it won’t happen to you, but realizing that it does happen doesn’t have to go unnoticed and unaddressed. We can help, and we should. If for no other reason than because we can. Sure, there are those that will exploit the system, but they are not the majority. Turning your back on everyone because of them is cruel and merciless. I just can’t let it go that the richest nation in the world can turn a blind eye to these problems; the problems of its own people.

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can’t there be some sort of happy medium?

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NYC condomsRight now, there is a debate going on over at my flickr page, on a specific photo that I posted of the new NYC sponsored condoms. While I know that there are varying opinions on whether or not the government has a stake in providing either health care or public health services to the people of this country, I honestly wonder; why can’t there be a happy medium? I mean, seriously, if you think government sponsored prevention programs are a bad idea, then you obviously don’t understand the impact that they have on health care. If you can prevent disease, you don’t have to treat it! (hence why I think the NYC condoms are such an amazing and awesome idea and execution of that idea!)

Most of the people that argue against public sponsored health care and public health services don’t believe that there should be any government support. A lot of people that are in the opposite camp, who are for those services, think that they should be available to everyone. I want to ask, why can’t there be a solution that falls somewhere between all and nothing? Sure, socialized medicine in theory is a great idea; everyone is taken care of. But, as dave, and others that believe what he believes about socialized medicine correctly point out, there are inherent problems when the government tries to take over and control something that it doesn’t really know how to do. Case and point: medical services for troops and veterans. Talk about a huge fuck up. And that is not what we want for everyone in the country.

Unfortunately, those fuck ups are then used to smear the idea of having any assistance from the government for public health services, and that is something I don’t understand. The main reason I don’t understand it, is because if you look at the countries that have socialized medicine, while it may not be the best possible solution, they far exceed our mortality rates, infant deaths, life expectancies and so on. It is obvious, that overall, government involvement in providing public health services does have a net benefit. So why can’t we take what we know (the government can fuck it up) and use that to come up with a happy medium that isn’t all (everyone must use government sponsored health care), or nothing (fuck em if they can’t afford it on their own)?

I wonder this, because my own personal views of public health and government supported health care come from a place of extensive education and research. I work for the top government public health organization, and have a masters degree of study that was mainly focused on public health. In addition to that focus, my masters degree focuses even more on what happens when the application of that public health means well, but goes wrong, or, in even worse situations, when it is ignored, and not provided at all. Speaking as someone who is very well educated in the subject, I think that it is ignorant to think that the government does not have any stake in providing people with some public health and health care services. Currently, the services that are provided are good in many respects, but are really awful in other areas. I think that it wouldn’t be very difficult to have governmental support in the areas that are bad, and that would provide for those that need the support. This does not equal total government support in the least; what it does do, is it helps those that need it get it.

Isn’t that what society is for? If everyone went around with the attitude of, “me, me, me, me!”, then we wouldn’t be able to function as a society. With specific regards to public health and health care services, the government does provide some services, and SHOULD, because if you want to support and maintain a society with a thriving economy, you must consider and support the health of the people that a part of that system. If you rely solely on charitable support for your health care, you will never get anywhere near what people truly need, as most of the people that have the money to give large charitable donations will never give enough to adequately cover what tax dollars can cover. Everyone can benefit from a government sponsored public health and health care services plan, which would include things like insurance changes, regulations on doctor fees, lowering of prescription prices, and so on. I just don’t see why a happy medium is such a bad thing.

The only people that I can see that would be so against this happy medium that I am suggesting (which again, does NOT include forcing everyone to have government sponsored health care), are people that don’t care about anyone other than themselves. It is interesting to me that these are the people that usually tout charitable donations as the solution (sorry to call you out dave), because being so selfish obviously means you wouldn’t be giving charitable donations. It is like saying, the solution would be to color it red, and you are the only one in the room with a red crayon, and you are unwilling to share it, or color it red yourself. That is not only selfish, it is undeserving of being a member of society in my opinion. We have to sacrifice things to be a part of society, sacrifice things to the one body that can govern and protect us. That body is the government, and while I too don’t agree with what all of our tax dollars go to, I think that public health is one of the most critical and substantially important places that money should be going to, and some sort of government involvement in that is not only required, but expected. To suggest otherwise is negligent, in my opinion.

Now, I know you are itching to, so go ahead and rip me a new one. I know that you may disagree, and that is fine, these are our opinions after all. We are entitled to them. This is mine. It isn’t like what is said here will become the policy of the government, even though I hope that some form of what I have stated could eventually find its way into our current policies. To be quite frank, I also think that it is a good thing that these opinions will not become policy, with specific regard to the thought that government has no place in providing public health services! I write this, because I truly don’t understand how the richest and most powerful nation in the country can turn its back on the citizens that live here. Those people are not entitled to anything more than anyone else, but they are also not to be denied anything that everyone else may have (and do have) a better chance at receiving. If you believe that everyone has the ability to get whatever they want (the “American dream”), then this argument is falling on deaf ears, because you have decided to tune out what is really going on in this country (and throughout the world) long ago. I only hope that one day, each side of this argument can find a way to come together and simply provide what is needed. THAT is what will make for stronger society. That is what will make for better and more robust economy. And that is what will make us stronger and better as a nation.

Continuing to go in the direction of wealth, power, and destruction at all costs, even the cost of our own citizens, will ultimately be our own demise. We will not need terrorists to destroy us, we will destroy ourselves. We are already doing it. And that is scary, but real.

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what I was going to say was…

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I was going to write another post about global warming today, because I seem to be in a debate with people that continue to believe that not only does it not really exist, but that we have no impact on what we do in the world. I posted one of the longest comments I have ever written on that post, and I am spent, so if you want to, check it out. I will write about it again soon, though, because I am just surprised that there are people that don’t think that anything we do has an impact on the environment. That just blows my mind. Seriously, we can’t all be ostriches with our heads in the sand forever, can we? I really hope not; especially since there is compelling science that shows global warming and climate change are happening more rapidly now than ever. But whatever, if you don’t believe it, I guess that is where you stand. I just hope you are ready for the consequences, or, I guess I hope you prepare your children for them, because it’s going to happen whether you believe it or not. I also know that I have been writing really long posts lately, and I apologize for that… for some reason, I have a lot to say lately. Now that I have that out of the way, I am going to post what I really wanted to talk about today in a different post (as to make it a little smaller).

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first step towards changing the world

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James and I watched An Inconvenient Truth a week or so ago, and the film was so fantastic and so compelling, that it motivated us to take action. We want to do our part to lessen our burden on the environment, and we are doing so, one step at a time. If you want to help the earth, please go to this website, and see what you can do; because even the small stuff can make a difference.

I am definitely going to write more about the movie, but I have been distracted lately, and haven’t had it in me. The film deserves so much more than a distracted thought process, so I want to do it justice. If you haven’t seen it, see it… and if you don’t believe in global warming and climate change, you MUST see it, because science can change your mind… or at least, I hope it can.
goodbye incandescent
Our first steps towards changing our energy consumption, were to change out all of our incandescent bulbs for new, energy efficient compact fluorescent ones. Now, I know you make think that these bulbs are more expensive (because they are), but the energy you save by using them more than makes up for the price difference. Also, as a motivation to get them, if you go to a wholesale warehouse place (like Sams or Costco), you can get a 10 pack of the bulbs for only $10… that is a savings of over $6 per bulb. I am glad that we have taken this first step, and I know that we are only getting started in trying to make positive impacts on the environment, rather than negative ones. Go out and get your new bulbs today!!! Seriously, they are a hell of a lot brighter!!
hello energy efficient fluorescent!
Again, more to come about An Inconvenient Truth… Hope everyone is having a great weekend!! Go Green!