Offering constructive criticism to the social cripples in our midst since early 2005.

[sgtclub]

Originally posted by Bad_Rich_Chic
Yeah, actually. And (i) US sponsored sex/HIV education in Africa is inconsistent and all fucked up by the abstinence loons and (ii) with all due respect to Africans, this isn't Africa and we aren't Africans.

Now, if you want to make the argument that, in the third world, sex/HIV education is of limited value in places where a majority of the population (a) is far more worried about eating and not getting killed than learning nifty safe sex tips, (b) doesn't have even the most basic education (and, un-PC though it may be to point it out, may be so malnourished as to be mentally limited, see (a) above), (c) has no access to condoms even if they did somehow manage to get and understand the educational message, and (d) is led by self-serving ignornant tribal leaders to reject educational efforts and/or believe they are really an evil plot against them by colonialist westerners, I'd probably agree with you. The main problem there isn't that education itself doesn't help, it's that education is not that useful in the face of overwhelming poverty, corruption, ignorance and/or backward cultural attitudes.

But I thought we were talking about the US.

We are, but Africa serves as a good, although severe, example of the limits of education to transform behavior. So does drug education in this country. It would be nice to think that all we have to do is educate people and they will make better choices. That works at some level, but not with the vast majorities.