AIDS in Africa. Is Bono fighting the wrong fight?

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Jamila said:
And you are correct - isn't it strange that the people who have enough time to endlessly post in forums either are filthy rich so they don't have to go to work or have so much time to post in forums about all the things that are wrong in the world but won't leave these forums long enough to go out and DO SOMETHING to make the differences in the world that they want to see!:scratch:

Again, the dictionary defines that as hypocrisy, doesn't it?:ohmy:

Let's not browbeat here, okay? Freedom of speech is a precious thing -- and while I work at home and also monitor Interference.com all day for U2 fans out of the sincerity of my own heart, yet I still scream at the television over political concerns doesn't make me a hypocrite in the least because I haven't found enough time in my schedule to go pound the pavement for my candidate of choice, you know? Let's not call into question how people spend their time and call them a hypocrite because ppl have opinions and not necessarily the time to do something about their opinions. Many of us surf the forum at work or during breaks, and some of us are stay at home moms who surf the forum when they get two seconds of peace or what not -- let's be fair and not browbeat or call people names. None of us are perfect, no matter how righteous we posture ourselves as.
 
BostonAnne said:


I think a lot of people use this argument as a reason to be inactive. What I have heard is: Giving Africa AIDS drugs will not solve their problems, so why bother? :(


Answer: Pretend for a second you know at some point in your life you exposed yourself to a fatal disease. You think you may have gotten it and it's possibe you could be passing it along to others. Unfortunately, not only is there no cure for this disease, but there's no medication available where you live. People you know who've been diagnosed with this disease end up depressed b/c they know they're going to die and there's no way to slow down the effects. Also, these people are mocked and avoided for having this disease. Now ask yourself, why on God's green earth would you ever get tested for the disease in the first place?

This is a huge problem that we talked about in the class I took on AIDS. People are in denial. No one is willing to help them; no one cares. They have no reasonable access to medications. So instead of getting tested, finding out they're HIV+, and wasting away to nothing, they'd rather pretend they don't have the disease. This puts others at risk - children, spouses, sexual partners - and so the cycle continues.

The best plan of action is a plan that includes EVERYTHING. You can't expect people to come forward and be willing to educate themselves and others while on the other hand you're telling them their life isn't worth trying to save and you're not going to help them anyway.
 
Simply put: if people do not want these threads to become confrontational, then why are the original posters allowed to post their threads so provocatively?

There are ways to post ideas that truly are appeals for rational discussion. And then there are ways to phrase your thread that INVITES dissension, controversy and chaos.

I personally hate these negatively-worded threads and will never start one here, but I don't understand the logic behind allowing these provocative threads and then getting upset that people challenge their original logic (or normally LACK of logic).

If someone can politely answer this question, it would be appreciated.
 
Jamila said:
BostonAnne -:applaud:

And you are correct - isn't it strange that the people who have enough time to endlessly post in forums either are filthy rich so they don't have to go to work or

have so much time to post in forums about all the things that are wrong in the world but won't leave these forums long enough to go out and DO SOMETHING to make the differences in the world that they want to see!:scratch:

Again, the dictionary defines that as hypocrisy, doesn't it?:ohmy:

THE GOAL IS SOUL.....:up: :angel: :bono: :love: :hug:

The fact of the matter is that we all just can't do something. Despite this seeming "rant" against intellectualisms, there is a place for both discussion and action. Without the former, the latter can be utterly futile.

Secondly, most of us are likely not in a position to do anything about it, and thirdly, like it or not, we are constantly bombarded with (for lack of a better term) "charitable guilt trips," where everyone wants our money or our time. It is too much for any human being, so I will not condemn anyone for not putting AIDS/HIV at the top of their priority list. Sad to say, most people, including celebrities, only will make something important if they are affected by it personally or through a close loved one. Would Christopher Reeve or Nancy Reagan be such advocates for stem cell research, if they had not been personally affected?

Now that isn't to say I am going to condemn these people for their work. Personally-affected or not, they do a valuable service trying to get diseases and afflictions permanently cured. Bono's work is also admirable, particularly since it seems that his cause on ending poverty and AIDS doesn't seem to particularly affect him or people around him (that I know of), and because he can operate at such a high-level that most non-celebrities will never be able to reach.

But don't condemn people here, merely because you don't think we're "doing enough." There is already a lot of work being done today on this subject.

Melon
 
BostonAnne said:


I think a lot of people use this argument as a reason to be inactive. What I have heard is: Giving Africa AIDS drugs will not solve their problems, so why bother? :( I hope people take the time to read about the issues that Africa faces and the plan that Bono and friends (including Bill Gates) have begun to help Africa conquer them.

Bono's foundation gives great information and relates the need for Trade & Debt assistance in addition to AIDS assistance to really help Africa solve it's problems.

http://www.data.org


I'm also very proud of the group that started and volunteer their time for the African Well Fund. AWF was started in 2002 by U2 fans that were inspired by Bono's trip to Africa with former Secretary of U.S. Treasury, Paul O'Neill. Their goal is to raise money for the construction and maintenance of clean water wells in Sub-Saharan Africa. They certainly aren't thinking about themselves.


http://www.africanwellfund.org/

I'm sure most of you have visited these sites, but it can't hurt to educate any minds that haven't. :)

I understand Jamila's frustration that people are so slow to respond to the emergencies that cause people in Africa to die of illness and/or remain in poverty behind the richer countries. When you think about the control we have to help or not help and the end result - it can get very frustrating. I get that frustrated also. I really want this thread to end in a positive note. Bono IS fighting the right fight.

Melon - you are correct about how many "charitable" guilt trips there are put upon people to decipher what is most important. I think that Justice for Africa is beyond charitable. It's justice. It's only right to convince our governments to help.

Please understand that although we all lack time and diverse in our focus of what is the most important issue to stand behind, a phone call can make a world of difference. A phone call that can take less than 10 minutes time and you don't have to go anywhere or do more beyond that. If you don't have time for a phone call, sign the petition for the One Campaign.

http://www.theonecampaign.org/

This takes only a couple of minutes of your time and none of your money.
 
Wild Angel said:
Hitman and Melon: this sounds weird I know, and I don't profess to have had a real revelation but it did mean something to me. One time when I was almost asleep, a feeling came to me, and it wasn't a voice but a thought in my head. It was telling me, chemo and other chemically based drugs are the wrong thing to use, they are poison. A cure is out there, but it is natural, like penicillin was from nature, after centuries of people dying from simple infections now easily cured. It was mold, who'd have thought it would be a miracle drug? Aspirin came from willow tree bark! The same is destined to happen and cure AIDS, cancer and other things, but the research is not going in the right direction. They keep using chemicals, more chemicals, new chemicals, chemical based medicines and that is not the answer. The cure will be something in nature. It's out there, somewhere on the earth, in a rainforest, along a riverbed, in the tree on a mountaintop. God put it all here, we have only to find it.
Chemo may be poison, but I would not be here today if it had not been available. Until something better comes along, there's not much choice when facing death. Sorry, I'm a bit touchy about this.
 
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u2granny said:
Chemo may be poison, but I would not be here today if it had not been available. Until something better comes along, there's not much choice when facing death.

I'm so glad you are here u2granny! :up: I know of a couple of people that have no choice either. I also believe that the AIDS drug is better than nothing and saves more than it hurts at this time. We are all open for improvement on all drugs that can hurt while saving lives, but in the mean time - let us be thankful for the ones that have been saved.
 
u2granny said:
Chemo may be poison, but I would not be here today if it had not been available. Until something better comes along, there's not much choice when facing death. Sorry, I'm a bit touchy about this.

If you're talking about chemotherapy for cancer...well, that's what it was made for. I wasn't talking about that.

Long-term use of a chemotherapy drug for HIV infection is what I was debating.

Melon
 
melon said:


If you're talking about chemotherapy for cancer...well, that's what it was made for. I wasn't talking about that.

Long-term use of a chemotherapy drug for HIV infection is what I was debating.

Melon

I was not responding to you.
 
u2granny said:
I was not responding to you.

Yeah...I sort of figured. Was just worried it was an indirect response to me. :wink:

Anyway, take care...

Melon
 
I'm not expert on this but I'll bring up one of the arguments I've heard. It has nothing to do with medicine or science or any of that really.

I've heard on of the biggest problems in Africa is that the governmant and people are extremely sexually ignorant and apathetic. The men won't even use condoms when having sex because they think it insults their 'manhood'. The governmant isn't much better. Alot of the money that goes to the African governmant to fight AIDS is used for selfish purposes.

Just an argument I heard that seems valid. We can't save Africa if they don't start trying to save themselves.
 
Sex education is a huge factor, areas are too poor to have it, many won't allow it for religious pride reasons, children are growing without any piece of truth. Rape is also a huge problem, the percentage of young girls who have been raped at least once before their 14th birthday is huge! There are a lot of factors and they all need to be taken care of, I don't think there are any excuses as to why this shouldn't be made a bigger priority.

I also agree with Melon in the fact that there is charitable guilt being thrown at us from every angle. But I feel we all need to do our part to help those that we can be it the homeless man at the bridge, the child born of AIDS, or the mother dying of cancer.
 
....and he took his directions from the New Testament. :up:

THIS IS THE TIME TO FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED.

THIS IS NO TIME TO DREAM.....

:bono: :heart: :heart: ;) :angel: :hug:
 
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