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From: th1h+@andrew.cmu.edu (Timothy J. Haggerty)
Newsgroups: sci.med.aids
Subject: Re: AIDS protest last night
Message-ID: <1991Jan25.173722.24442@cs.ucla.edu>
Date: 25 Jan 91 17:29:21 GMT
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Protest and anger are not measured, rational responses; nor does one
movement of the body politic take precedence over another.I guess what
bothers me the most about this kind of reaction to protest is that they
always seem to start with some sort of disclaimer e.g.: "that while I'm
in favor of increased AIDS funding, I would prefer that people on the
way to early deaths would just be a little more quiet and polite about
it . . .is that too much to ask?" YOU BET IT IS.  ACT UP has always
pissed people off--that's their job, for Christ's sake!   Why is it
hypocritical to behave as if AIDS issues, to those intimately involved,
are the issue of most importance?  Are HIV infected people supposed to
patiently queue up until their issue reaches the top of some (imagined)
national agenda?  Does the war in the Gulf effect my life as
immediately?  Can I change that world?  Unfortunately, AIDS protesters
have a grip on a reality that is all too real.  To claim that issues, as
they pass through time, will inevitably lose importance is a banal
justification for someone who needs to be amused by current events
rather then compelled into action by them.  What really seems to annoy
people ACT UP is its insistance upon confrontation rather then
entertainment.  Street theatre was fun; political demands are boring.