What
is hell and where is it located? Theologians and philosophers have a
diversity of opinions. In Jean Paul Sartre's landmark play, No Exit (Huis
Clos), the three characters find themselves in hell
which for them is a
living-room in France with Second Empire furniture. The most famous line in
the play is Garcin’s, who states: ”Hell is other people.” (l'enfer, c'est
les autres.) Another character, Inès, counters with: "You are nothing
else but your life." (Tu n'es rien d'autre que ta vie. . . .). This
exchange is the foundation of Sartre’s existential definition of hell.
According to Sartre, our reality is not who we are, but rather the image
that others have of us. Our hell is, therefore, the diminished value or lack
of value that out life has to others.
This
existential definition of hell was reaffirmed by the recent deaths of three West
Virginians on the state’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) waiting
list that died because of lack of adequate Congressional ADAP funding. Hell
for them was the devaluation of their lives by those members of the US
Congress who failed to vote for adequate ADAP funding since the predictable
consequences of such lack of funding was always the unnecessary suffering
and death of those with limited resources who could not access appropriate
HIV drugs on a timely basis. State ADAP waiting lists have become a personal
hell for the 726
people currently on these lists
because of the devaluation
of their lives by a government whose failure to adequately fund state ADAP
programs implies that their lives have no further value to the nation that
they love and to which they pledge their allegiance.
The
culpability for such unnecessary suffering and death must be shared by the those members
of Congress who failed to vote for adequate ADAP funding and the US HIV/AIDS
community. Few of us have done all that we could to advocate for adequate
ADAP funding. Although 180 community organizations supported Save ADAP’s
recent letter to President Bush, there were thousands of HIV/AIDS and other
community organization that did not take the few minutes required to
demonstrate solidarity on this important advocacy initiative – the few
minutes necessary to reaffirm the value of the lives of those on state ADAP
waiting lists. Can any of us admit that the lives of 726 men and women on state
ADAP waiting lists are not worth the time that it takes us to telephone,
write, or visit our Senators and Congressional Representatives whose
votes to support adequate ADAP funding are votes to allow those on these waiting lists to live?
There
have been three recent unnecessary deaths in our family and there will be
many more among the growing number of people on state ADAP waiting lists
unless each of us - individually, and collectively through our
organizations – accepts our moral responsibility to serve as advocates for
the value of the lives of those on these lists.
Where is the passion that once defined the HIV/AIDS community to protect the
most vulnerable among us?
Each of us needs to write and telephone our members of Congress. Each
of us needs to twist the arms of our friends and colleagues, if necessary, to also write
and call. Those of
us who have the financial means should personally visit and lobby our
Senators and Congressional Representatives in Washington, DC, to do
what is morally right. Those of us who have the courage and commitment
to demonstrate in our nation’s capital should organize and participate in
demonstrations for adequate ADAP funding and for the reaffirmation of the
dignity and value of the lives of those on state ADAP waiting lists.
We also need to explore more creative programs to provide
assistance to resource-limited states as alternatives to the state ADAP
waiting lists limbo. Private donations, specialized advocacy to
pharmaceutical company drug assistance programs for appropriate drugs, and
aggressive enrollment of waiting list registrants in applicable clinical
trials need to be explored as a super safety net as soon as possible. Above
all, we all need to demonstrate that the lives of those on state ADAP
waiting lists have great value to the members of our community and our
nation. We need to respond to Garcin’s curtain line in No Exit: Eh
bien, continuous. . . . ("Well, well, let's get on with it. . . .").
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