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Originally Posted by Silent
So what is that money really for? AIDS research or foisting off your own view of right and wrong?
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There is a drought. Water is scarce and some folks are running out of water. You are my neighbor and I am happy to share my water with you so you come over with a bucket. I start to pour some of my water in your bucket but notice a big gaping hole in the bottom of your bucket. I request that you fix the hole prior to my pouring some of my limited supply of water into your bucket.
Apparently, we are not in agreement about there being a hole in your bucket.
I'm not personally interested in debating whether legalized sex for hire raises or lowers the HIV infection rate. Those "with the water" think it does and they are not going to give you any until you fix the "hole." Its ok to disagree on stuff - but the institution offering the money has the right to withhold the money if it is of the opinion that there are simpler things that could be done to address the problem.
If it makes everyone happier, instead of thinking of the money as being for AIDS, think of it as the United States offering Brazil $45 million to make prostitution illegal. The price, evidently, is not high enough but there is a price at which Brazil would make selling sex a crime. America just hasn't hit the number yet. Of course, there is a limit to what America is willing to pay.
If I'm going to pay the medical bills for an alcoholic, then a condition of that agreement is that he stop drinking. Does that make me a holier-than-thou moralistic asshole? Ok, fine, then I'm an asshole. Again, this debate isn't about whether drinking caused the problems for which I am offering to pay. I think it does and since its my money, my opinion is the only one that matters.
Personally, I think the money would be better spent in Africa than in a country perfectly capable of managing its own affairs.
I also have a sneaking suspicion that Brazil might be a straw man in a sham transaction designed to funnel money from the Feds -through Brazil - to the drug companies as a subsidy but who the hell knows. Everyone is so focused on turning this into a religious issue that they forgot there's really $45 million dollars floating around and someone who was expecting it (down the ladder from Brazil) is now not going to get it and somebody else is now going to have to pay for that.