drop condoms, not bombs

January 10, 2003 9:04 PM

An undeclared war on latex is apparently being waged by the Bush administration, which is taking all sorts of steps to avoid condoning their use. This is a patently ridiculous stance to take in the face of a global AIDS epidemic, but this interesting essay also raised my eyebrows:

According to figures in a report on condoms by Population Action International, the average man in Botswana gets less than one condom per year from international donors.

Uhhh...doesn't the idea of condoms as a staple of international relief seem a bit strange? Haven't governments around the world devoted any resources to their own public health? Surely donor-nations can't keep everyon else's penises safely sheathed forever.
posted by subpixel (12 comments total)

yeah but if you just don't have sex you won't catch anything!

also, not driving cars prevents accidents.
posted by mcsweetie at 6:37 AM on January 11, 2003

Umm isn't it also in our best interests to help slow the growth of the world population?
posted by SweetIceT at 10:09 AM on January 11, 2003

Yeah, I'm with mcsweetie & SweetIceT on this one, isn't the whole world (even my corner of it, here in the U.S.) a better place if people in poverty ravaged sections of it have access to birth control that will prevent a child that may grow to require more expensive forms of international aid, such as food, debt relief etc? I mean, one prevented child, over the course of that child's life, must mean remarkable savings to first world nations that find themselves in support lending postions.
posted by jonson at 10:22 AM on January 11, 2003

Umm isn't it also in our best interests to help slow the growth of the world population?

That's the idea. Let the African homo diseases wipe out all the undesirables.
posted by four panels at 12:50 PM on January 11, 2003

Slowing the growth of the world population, my dear SweetIceT, would be cultural imperialism. The United States is trying to avoid that, you see, as we're the hobgobling of the sophisticated world.

Four panels, you're disgusting.

As to the condom controversy, in Africa, there is the thesis that HIV doesn't cause AIDS anyway.

"AIDS in Africa is caused by malnutrition, release of endogenous cortisol, and by opportunistic diseases. Atrophy in the lymphoid tissue has been observed in HIV-negative people suffering from malnutrition."

[no, I don't support that view, I firmly believe that condoms should be shipped to anyone that wants them, and frankly, I'm against latex too, use polyeurethane, it's better]
posted by swerdloff at 1:28 PM on January 11, 2003

Yet the U.S. is now donating only 300 million condoms annually, down from about 800 million at the end of the first President Bush's term

It's a strategic war supply, didn't you know ? What do you think the soldiers that are being sent to Iraq are supposed to do, fight ? Suuure, fight sexual diseases at best.

Jokes (??) aside..

Let's do a little math and you'll see 800M condoms at 1cent/each (yes you can buy them at 1cent or less for that quantity) is a miserable fraction of the cost of sending food to Africa. It makes total sense to have less hungry mouths then more, at least until they become self sufficient in food.
So sending 300M instead of 800M is evidently an economical suicide, there could be some bigot religious group behind that "smart" reduction.
posted by elpapacito at 2:38 PM on January 11, 2003

The "White House Stealth War on Condoms" was also discussed in a post by dejah420 a few months back. I am glad to see that this issue is continuing to draw media attention. I guess the religious fundamentalists get to make decisions about medicine and science nowadays. Sigh.
posted by madamjujujive at 5:14 PM on January 11, 2003

Apparently the idea that people should learn how to control their impulses is too advanced a concept.
posted by piper28 at 10:25 PM on January 11, 2003

Apparently that everyone should have a fair shake at education and self-determination is too advanced a concept.

Do you realize what conscripted edu-motherfucking-cation would do for the world? No, not inculcation. Education. Where the sky's the limit.

Do you understand what compulsory scientific and sociological education would to for the masses? Heaven forbids that.

Therefore the AIDS epidemic is an easy choice between fascist moralists and frantic humanists.

Guess which one usually kicks ass.
posted by crasspastor at 10:42 PM on January 11, 2003

yeah but if you just don't have sex you won't catch anything! also, not driving cars prevents accidents.

Yeah, but many people have to use motorized transport to get to work or do any number of 'essential' things. (Of course, everyone could work from home, but going out is considered 'essential' by the majority.)

The only essential thing about sex is that it produces children, and you don't need one of those every day.
posted by wackybrit at 9:47 AM on January 12, 2003

Wackybrit: Of course, everyone could work from home

Care to elaborate on that one?
posted by signal at 7:15 AM on January 13, 2003

Care to elaborate on that one?
You won't get into a car accident if you work from home, or dont have a car. But people like having cars.
posted by Iax at 2:36 PM on January 13, 2003