Friday, February 18, 2011

Curing the Global Epidemic

The perfect solution for solving the global epidemic lies not in the future for medicine, but in the past.
Note: Keep reading to the bottom. I swear I'm not an evil person like I'm about to come across as.


Many years ago, we had leper coloniestuberculosis colonies, and a place for just about anyone who had a disease that we couldn't cure. If someone had the disease, we put them there and let them live their life out. Why can't we do that with people with AIDS?

I've got it all planned out. First, we get a lot of land. I say Africa. It already has a lot of victims there, and many of those governments are easily overthrown, giving a lot of land to donate to the colonies. Then, as we find people with the virus, we ship them off to the colonies. At first it will be rough. There won't be much there. The people will have to build their own buildings, set up their own infrastructure, and create their own jobs. But with time and a lot of hard work, it will be a paradise colony.

In the colony, businesses and factories will be set up. Instead of shipping jobs over to India or China, we ship them to the colonies. They will need the jobs, and if nothing else the colonies can provide for another agricultural source for emerging alternative fuels. People will be screened for sickness and quarantined before they join the rest of the colony's population, so as to reduce the rate of sickness, so less people will die of complications due to AIDS, allowing them to live longer. They will have full rights and privileges just like they would have if they did not have AIDS and still lived here in the United States. They could still vote, hold jobs, make money, invest in the stock market, have access to all the latest news and technology, get health care all all the doctor's care they would ever need, everything. They would have every right except one: They could not leave the colony. They have AIDS, and for the sake of the public health and safety, they cannot be allowed to spread the disease any further.

This may be a hard pill for many people to swallow. Taking away the rights and privileges of a group of people based solely on just one characteristic that defines them seems wrong. "I have AIDS, so I should be shipped off to live a similar life, just different from what you are allowed to have?" someone in this situation may ask. "Why yes, of course," we will answer. "It has worked out wonderfully for years in similar cases."

Now, dear reader, if you have stuck around this long, I'm very sure you are mad. Infringing on a persons rights that everyone else has just because of one characteristic? Unfair! Mean! Unlawful! Exactly. If this is so wrong with people with AIDS, why are homosexuals still not allowed to marry? Why are they denied certain privileges? They're just gays and lesbians. Not much different from everyone else except for one characteristic.

Yes, I do know there's a huge difference between AIDS and homosexuality, but the comparison still stands. If you are offended by one and not the other, doesn't that count as doublethink?

*NOTE* Because of the controversy this article has been causing, a follow-up article was written here. I suggest you read it before you comment on this one. 

Angry? Confused? Happy someone put it into perspective? Am I evil? Stupid? Or am I a force for good? A genius? Post a comment or contact me to let me know!

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Though lepers and those with AIDS differ because you can protect yourself from aids (usually), they could be tossed aside the same way, I guess. I think an it would be very important to make sure none of these people know that they have all been turned away to the same continent. Because they could so cometogether and mix sicknesses eventually (maybe I'm imagining it works this way) or worse, rise against.

Maybe people with aids shouldn't be allowed to reproduce unless they live there.

What if this colony became united in ways most of mankind hasn't been able to? Like, if they look past things &find peace( OOnly if they had all they needed/weren't oppressed)

What a daydream.

Phokinggaii said...

i dont know about this one. i mean, people that have knowledge of being a free person will never be the same once theyre caged.theyll eventually break out, or question why they cant travel or do this or that.its not something theyre born into so that in itself will be hard to control

10swords said...

@Teresauras: That would be cool. But the main point of the article wasn't AIDS, it was gay rights.

@Displayed: That's true, but see above comment

Anonymous said...

No.

I find so much wrong with your idea that I don't even have the words to tell you how wrong you are.

This is a violation of human rights, plain and simple. And your idea that Africa is a good place to put them because "everyone in Africa has AIDS anyway" is so wrong. First of all, everyone in Africa DOES NOT have AIDS, that is your ignorant assumption. Second of all, your idea reeks of ethnocentrism. You sure didn't suggest moving them to the Tuscan countryside or the swiss alps. Your assumption that some African country (and you didn't specify which) would be happy to accept a large population of people infected with AIDS is rather disgusting!

Also, how would you even go about enforcing this? Find people's medical records, invade their privacy? Force them to go? Fuck you.

Seriously, fuck you. I found this blog through the webcomic Pink Parts' facebook page, and I can assure you that the author of that comic would NOT agree with you about this. I don't know what you like about her comic, but I wish you'd unlike her page so I never have to even look at you there again.

Once again, fuck you.

10swords said...

Ok above anon, I see that you are upset. Let me attempt to remedy this like I've been trying to all week.

The entire point of it is to show that it is a violation of human rights. If you had read the entire article carefully, you would see that I was trying to compare shipping people with AIDS off to a different country with taking away the rights of gays and lesbians.

As for the Africa comment, that was a call back to the location of many leper colonies and the fact that Liberia was set up as a place to ship off all the slaves before the Civil War. I probably could have explained that better, and for that I apologize.

Yes, I know that not everyone in Africa has AIDS, but the problem there is more prevalent. That is where that idea came from. Also, I never said "everyone in Africa has AIDS," and I would appreciate you not putting words in my mouth.

As for the idea for the Swiss alps or Tuscon countryside, the idea was to put the colony in a place far from America, and in a place that is not a paradise, just so the human rights violation is even further defined.

And I have no plan on enforcing this. That is not the point of the article. It's to show that the gross violation of HUMAN RIGHTS is comparable to the rights denied gays and lesbians.

As for Ms. Skipper, I'm sure she would not agree to this. I would hope no one would. But I would hope that she would READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE and see the point I was trying to make.

And I enjoy her comic because of the story, and that rather than being a dirty, slutty webcomic about strippers, it's a funny, tasteful comic about people who happen to be strippers. I like her work, and support her in what she is doing, even if it's just reading the comic and trying to introduce more people to it. I will not unlike her page, if for nothing else, to direct more traffic her way.

You don't have to ever look this way again. That's the beauty of having the right not to look at what you don't want to.

And you can curse me all you want, I will continue to do what I do, because it causes people to think, even if it causes some people to get angry in the process. It's my right to do so. I am not harming anyone, I am not doing any harm to people who actually read the entire article, and it is making many people think. I apologize that you didn't like this week's article, but this Friday there will be a new, different post that you may enjoy. Try that one and see what you think

TinyDino said...

I think that you made a pretty good point in this. Sure you may have offended people by putting it in a context that they hadn't thought about before, but that is what drives people to start seriously considering things like this.

Anonymous said...

You're full of shit.

I don't care what you say, and I'm not going to reread that piece of filth.

You are utterly and completely disgusting and a sorry excuse for a human being.

Anonymous said...

Even after reading your "explanation," I still think you're a fucking idiot. Please don't try to speak on behalf of the LGBT community, you do more harm to our cause than good. You've pissed off a ton of people and made yourself look like an idiot. I am a member of the LGBT community and obviously a gay marriage supporter and your argument is still offensive and stupid. Fuck you, again.

Anonymous said...

And you get bonus asshole points for implying that a story about strippers (or strippers themselves) is/are "slutty." Nobody said that but you.

Congratulations, dickweed. You've really done a great job showing what a piece of shit you are.

10swords said...

To the above anons:

I don't care if you reread it or not. It's there, and people are reading it and thinking about it. To you, it may be a piece of filth. But you know what? It's a piece of filth with a new perspective. Maybe I am a horrible human being. At least I actually stick my neck out, speak my mind, and don't hide behind the mask of anonymity.

I never said that I was speaking on behalf of the LGBT community. I am a straight man looking at that particular community as being treated unjustly. Would you say the same things to Harriet Beecher Stowe? As for the ton of people, I'm only racking up about 500 page views for that article, which means that the rest of the people got bad information, and should read the article for themselves and make their own judgments. I'm sorry you think I'm an idiot. I probably am. But that's not going to change anything. This blog will still continue on.

And I never claimed a story about strippers is necessarily slutty. I implied that it COULD have been slutty. Have you ever read Oglaf? Ms. Skipper could have gone that way, but chose, in my opinion at least, a better route. As for strippers themselves being slutty, I'm sure not all of them are. But I do know that where I grew up, the strip joints were the bad kind that Ms. Skipper has talked about a lot on her Formspring. Those are some slutty strippers.

So, got anything else to say? Any more insults? Bring it on. I'm game for it. All you're doing at this point is making a fool of yourself and projecting a worse image on the community than I did.

By the way, do you kiss your mother with that mouth?

Anonymous said...

Harriet Beecher Stowe actually believed in the superiority of white people. Fail, again.

You're a stupid young kid, so I'm not surprised you write this shit. Just don't be surprised when you get your ass kicked for saying it. Loser.

10swords said...

But is that in the minds of most Americans? Nope. Not really. That requires a bit of research. Which means that you're just scraping for things to hit me with now.

As for your comments, nice work. I am indeed young. I can only vote, run for most public offices at the state level (where most of the laws pertaining to rights such as these are made), and I would love to get my ass kicked. Please do it for me? I beg of you. I need to get my head on straight, and violent action is the only way to do so!

You have defeated me. I shall now delete this blog and blow my brains out. So long cruel world! There shall be one less asshole in you now!

(New post Friday everyone)

Anonymous said...

At least you know you're an asshole.

By the way, you attacking my word choice ("Do you kiss your mother with that mouth") is a much weaker argument than me actually knowing about Harriet Beecher Stowe's true intention. Her book reinforced a lot of racist ideas, and you referencing her just shows how stupid you are.

You're a whiny little boy getting mad because your shitty arguments don't hold up. Boo hoo.

10swords said...

Yes, I do know I'm an asshole. My girlfriend reminds me of that regularly.

And the "Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" comment was a Wayne's World reference. How about you crawl out from under angry library and add see a good movie.

And if I reference Andrew Carnegie, John Rockefeller, or any of those kinds of people, am I automatically a social Darwinist? If I reference George Washington, am I supporting being uneducated, bad generals, and pot? You can reference a historical figure without implying all of their ideals.

And I'm not mad. At this point, you're just a fly buzz around my ear

10swords said...

Oh look! How fitting!

http://survivingtheworld.net/Lesson886.html

Anonymous said...

You sure are glad that you can hide behind a computer screen and say things anonymously. You know that if you said these things in the real world you'd get the shit beaten out of you.

That's why you're so fucking insecure, and it shows.

10swords said...

I'm not anonymous. Did you not see the contact info in the boxes up there? And I've been saying these same things for years in real life to people's faces. I just finally decided to put them up on the internet. So far, I've yet to get my ass beaten. In fact, the worst that's ever happen is a pleasant discussion turned into a heated, but civil, argument. And the same thing could be said for you Anon. Sign in. There's at least 3 ways to do it.

And how do I come across as insecure? Ask any of my friends and they will assure you I am quite secure