Making much of very little
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Re: "HIV network, govt offer to help end row", Thailand, December 17
When I read about how people in a Chon Buri village want HIV patients who are housed in a facility there to move, I ask myself the following question:
Why is it that in a country where prostitution, unsafe sex, homosexuality and intravaneous drug abuse are prevalent, people are so afraid of getting HIV from casual contact.
I think the psychology behind this is that if people can convince themselves that “everything causes Aids”, then there is really no reason for them to change their own high risk behaviour. After all, if someone thinks he’s going to get Aids because a prostitute sneezed on him, then he might as well have sex with her anyway.
This reminds me of the Alar scare in America several years back. Although there was absolutely no evidence that Alar, a chemical sprayed on apples, was causing cancer in humans, the news media, “environmentalists” and semi-retarded movie stars acted as though everyone in the world was going to get cancer from eating apples.
Eric Bahrt
Pattaya
