Finally a Starbucks Quote Worth Quoting
"Seven million innocent European Jews were killed in the 1940's, and we rightly called it the Holocaust. Eleven million innocent Africans have died of AIDS so far this decade because they were unable to get the drugs that would save their lives. What do we call that?"
Rob Glaser, CEO of RealNetworks, and founder of the Glaser Progress Foundation.
Rob Glaser, CEO of RealNetworks, and founder of the Glaser Progress Foundation.
posted by Megamamma at 1:06 PM
8 Comments:
The two situations are hardly comparable
The Holocaust dealt with the systematic elimination of Jews based on an immutable characteristic perpetrated by other humans. As unfortunate as AIDS is, it is an uncomparable situation. First, people who contract the AIDS virus are not entirely "innoncent" since they by defintion willingly engage in sexual relations. Second, one who dies from a disease such as AIDS is much different than dying from an intentional act by another human being.
Similarities:
Hitler invaded North Africa.
Nazi and AIDS each have 4 letters.
People run races to fund AIDS research and Hitler tried to create a master race.
I call it a Hell Lot of Cost to buy those drugs and ship them to Africa.
Did the anonymous poster know that you can contract AIDS from other means other than "Sexual relations?" I would hardly say the millions of children who are born with aids are not innocent. And do you really think if it was millions of white ppl dying we wouldnt have already done something about it? May god bless you and continue to bless America.
-Jesse Jackson
The Holocaust and AIDS are of course are different. What I wanted people to take away from this quote is that the atrocities of the Holocaust were allowed to happen because people DIDN'T want to become involved. And the AIDS crisis in Africa and globally is similar in that people DON’T want to get involved. The quote speaks of the Holocaust, not to minimize it, but to magnify the fact that the world is forgetting the tragic lessons it supposedly learned...that apathy kills.
Anonymous #1, you have misconceptions about AIDS in Africa. It’s estimated that more than 2 million children in Sub-Saharan Africa suffer from HIV or AIDS. At the end of 2005, Africa was home to an estimated 12 million children under 18 who had lost at least one parent to AIDS. In 2001, 21,000 child rapes, and some 37,000 adult rapes, were reported in South Africa alone. According to the South African Police Service, only one in 35 are actually reported. Many infected African mothers pass the disease to their children during pregnancy. Lack of education, extreme poverty, unavailability of sexual protection, and appalling myths all contribute to the AIDS epidemic in Africa. Many people who contact HIV and AIDS in Africa are completely innocent victims. And those who choose to engage in consensual adult sex without protection whether out of ignorance or mistake do not deserve to die either.
Eleven million innocent Africans have died of AIDS so far this decade because they were unable to get the drugs that would save their lives. This is extremely disturbing. We are talking about HUMAN LIVES. People like you. To have the ability to prevent the deaths of millions and yet to do nothing…this is an intentional and deadly act of apathy.
What do we call the deaths of eleven million innocent Africans?
I think you call it what it is: a terrible, but completely avoidable, tragedy.
I'm actually kinda surprised Glaser would say anything that, um, shows human compassion. The guy is not known for being nice or caring.
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