Life, and death, of one of the "beneficiaries" of "trickle-down economics".
-Badtux the Sad Penguin
21 hours ago
Thursday, February 03, 2011
4 comments:
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That's a hard way to die. Most of the AIDS patients I've seen since the advent of good anti-retrovirals (say, the late 1990s) have not gone down hard that way. In fact, I'm seeing more and more living for a decade or better in good health. At least those that I see in the hospital.
ReplyDeleteBut y'know, Tux, this is going to sound hard, but some people are so non-compliant that they can't be helped. This unfortunate woman was cursed from the beginning, with the sexual and substance abuse in her family. People like that resist doing all the things that are good for them, because they've been so badly bent.
I didn't read her whole story, but I've seen similar trajectories where people cling to their bad habits, and push away medicines and social services that might prolong or better their existence. It's like they're determined to die. Slow-motion suicide. It's a mental illness with some people, fighting against rescue.
The ones I feel sorrier for are the children, who are cursed with their parents' illnesses, physical and mental. They didn't ask to be born HIV+ or to grow up in a shambolic household. It's too easy for the wrong people to be breeders.
I would comment on this post, but I look too much like that kitten above every time I decide to. This poor kid had her soul ground into dust with no choices in her early life but bad choices and with her life course set by the time she was 18. Would a European level of social services rather than the Reagan-revolution-gutted ones have saved her from her fate? One can only speculate...
ReplyDelete-- Badtux the Sad Penguin
Forget just re-active medical, not that we don't need a single payer re-active system. What's needed is pro-active, as in creating a world where the root causes of this do not exist. The woman was cursed by the excess of a predatory society.. Forget 'god' or whatever.. I simply point out that 'our' society is based on a subjugated & abused populace.. Who was it that pointed out that since we mostly see the tiers directly adjacent to us, we ignore the extremes.. I'm paraphrasing, but the gist should be obvious.. a few seconds on google.. Wallerstein..
ReplyDeletethanks for the link, Penguin, I'll be passing it far & fast.
This is why it is so hard not to be in a continuous funk. Even if some still fell through the cracks, easily available health care, including mental health care, ending this ridiculous war on drugs and providing financial help to those who either don't have the tools or ability to cope "normally" would be so much better. The ongoing conservative approach to just let anyone who does not live up to their ideals just die a slow and painful death is their worst trait.
ReplyDelete