To-day in class, we (and a co-present M.D., who was half-paying attention) watched a rather depressing film about the international impact of HIV infection. Actually, ‘rather depressing’ sounds a bit dismissive of it; it was more…moving, really, than just ‘depressing moaning crap’. What really struck me (KD) was that there was a large emphasis on human rights violations as a major social factor that contributes to HIV risk, and it really made me think. We actually think that lack of respect for others’ existence in and of itself contributes to a lot of social ills, HIV included. If people just learned how to put their prejudices and ‘privileged’ assumptions about ‘who is worthy of living,’ then the world would honestly be a better place.
There seems to be this mindset that those suffering in ‘have-not’ countries are ‘less worthy’ of life, and that it’s really not ’sustainable’ to treat them because ‘oh, they get diseases anyway’. That attitude is just ridiculously callous, honestly, because who are you to determine the value of other human beings’ lives? It’s not their fault that they happen to live in a country that was ravaged by imperialism or a bad economy, or both. It’s only by an accident of birth that people in the US, the UK and other Western countries have access to treatment that people in these countries don’t have.
It reminds me (H S-K) of the idea that disabled people’s lives are less ‘valuable’ and are disposable, and that it’s just ‘okay’ to let them die just because ‘oh, they’re not able-bodied anyway, and won’t “contribute to society”‘. Again, who are you to determine who can and cannot live in that way?
I mean, just having a disability doesn’t strip all meaning from life. We’ve lived with ours for 23 years, and that doesn’t stop our collective life out here having meaning. It doesn’t make our life here worth less than anyone else’s, and it just really, really disgusts me that people can just SAY and ACT as though some people’s lives are worth less. In the same way, being a citizen of a poor country doesn’t make you worth less, either. You’re still alive. You still have basic needs and wants that should be fulfilled, just as anyone else’s should be fulfilled. That attitude, in my opinion, is partly responsible for the spread of HIV and other preventable diseases.