WAGES OF FEAR:

AIDS in South Afria: Not Living, Not Dying Alone: South African truckers work in an industry that is still marred by the brutal legacy of Apartheid. Disenchanted and surprisingly nonchalant about AIDS or HIV, the truckers fear dying alone more than death itself. Annamarie Bindenagel, a graduate student of University of Witwatersrand, explains how HIV/AIDS has turned into an epidemic of social and moral disillusionment. (Annamarie Bindenagel, May 25, 2005, The Globalist)

"I don't want to die alone!" This was the cry of the truckers with whom I discussed HIV and AIDS in Johannesburg in November 2004. They are long-distance drivers at KITE, a trans-continental trucking company.

In a system that objectifies people, the possibility of accountability for acquiring HIV — and then for knowingly infecting another — is devoid of meaning.

The AIDS/HIV epidemic is a reaction to the reality of the instability and insecurity of forces that seek to serve the market - while neglecting to serve men.

The truckers are lonely and alone on long hauls — and even in the face of the scourge of HIV/AIDS, they would rather risk infection than insulate themselves and die alone. [...]

Herman, young and dashing, with smooth skin and soft brown eyes, said, "I will sleep with as many people as possible — so that I do not die alone." All of the truckers applauded. I stood astonished.

For these men, HIV/AIDS is not a dissuading threat to the need for the even brief intimacy and security of a sexual encounter. In an industry where men are reduced to subsistence wages, they often lack the means to pay lobola, the bride price. [...]

A weekend getaway to another location — not to mention the transactional sex offered and accepted along the trucking routes — adds more sexual partners to the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Norm spoke up and said, "I have no choice but to sleep around! I drink, then I get drunk — and then I sleep with whoever is available. I have no choice."

I asked him, "Do you see the sequence of your choices?" "Yes," he answered. "Do you accept that you might have the choice to control those choices to enhance your life and the lives of those with whom you interact?" "Yes," he answered again.

Folks like Andrew Sullivan say now that there are pills you can take this is a perfectly desirable lifestyle.

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 27, 2005 7:34 AM