Political Issues

As we are nearing the Tennessee Primary, political issues are at the forefront of many people's minds. I know only a few of you will be able to vote in this election, but it is important to start deciding which issues are most important to you. Unless you come from a family that talks politics regularly, you probably aren't even aware of many of the poignant issues in this Presidential campaign. It will take time, energy, thought, and research to learn about the issues and to make decisions about where you stand.

Over the last week I have been reading Melissa Fay Greene's There Is No Me Without You, a nonfiction book about a courageous woman who runs an orphanage in Ethiopia. After the death of her husband and daughter Haregewoin Teferra agreed to take in one child who was orphaned after his parents died of AIDS. She unwittingly ended up caring for forty to fifty children in her home at a given time. Greene makes a point to state that Teferra is no saint; "calling a good person a saint is just another way to try to explain extraordinary behavior...which means we are off the hook...[and] no one will expect us to intervene" (Greene 28). Along with the narrative of Teferra's life, Greene also discusses the facts surrounding the AIDS pandemic such as how it began, how it has affected innumerable children's lives, and how our country has helped and even hindered the victims of the relentless disease.

Here are some of the facts.

• 4.7 million people in Africa are in immediate need of the lifesaving AIDS drugs and only 500,000 have access to them.
• 6,600 Africans die every day of AIDS.
• The U.S. gave 0.1575% of its Gross National Product to foreign aid between 2002 and 2005. That equals $75,853,000.
• While the U.S. gave the most in dollar amount, it was least in percentage with countries like Norway giving up to .93% in 2005.
• In 2005, Ethiopia had 1,563,000 AIDS orphans, the second highest concentration of such children in the world. (There were 4,414,000 total orphans in Ethiopia including those from other causes.)
• People in America are treated for AIDS with HAART (Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy), a combination of three or more anti-HIV drugs, that helps them lead healthy lives for many years after their diagnosis.
• People in Ethiopia (and many other developing countries) die of AIDS because the drugs cost about $200-300 a year per patient.
• They obviously cannot afford the drugs because Ethiopia's Gross National Income per capita is $180.
• Within two months after starting treatment dying people regain their health and can return to work.

There are many reasons and excuses for the lack of adequate treatment for the millions of people dying of AIDS, but ultimately we are people and they are people. Are things like intellectual property rights, patents, and profits worth the lives of millions of people? While I understand the important of the right to patent as determined by the writers of our Constitution, I agree with Martin Luther King, Jr. who wrote in "Letter from Birmingham Jail" that "there are just and unjust laws...An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law." He is not advocating defying the law as that would lead to anarchy. Instead, "one who breaks an unjust law must do it openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty." So far, American leaders are not willing to accept the penalty of relinquishing the patent on AIDS medicine in order to create cheaper, generic versions that would be accessible to the millions of people dying of a treatable disease. I believe our future generations will be baffled about the AIDS crisis much like our generation feels about the Holocaust.

Obviously you can see this is an issue I am passionate about. Now, I want to hear the things you all care about. Assuming you were able to vote this year, what issues would you be focusing on? Why are they important to you? (Please focus on the issues, not the candidates!)