Today is World AIDS Day. Which I probably wouldn't know if it hadn't been for one of the dozen or so socially conscious people in the town where I live coming in to work to request a "worthwhile" movie for the teenagers at the local recovery center to watch. I eventually found him Philadelphia because the library doesn't own Kids, which his charges would probably be more able to connect with, since it features characters their own age. (I can just see the group, which is entirely made up of young men, turning away in disgust from Tom Hanks' portrayal of a gay man.)
Anyway, this got me to thinking. World AIDS Day used to be a big deal. Didn't the major networks, or at least some of the better-known cable ones, broadcast benefits or at least PSAs around this time in years past? I can recall seeing Bono and other celebrities on TV talking about the AIDS crisis in Africa not too many years ago. Maybe the PSAs are still there and I'm just missing them because of the joys of DVR, and maybe it has something to do with the fact that I don't *sniff* live in a college town anymore (community colleges don't count), but I think I saw a grand total of one mention of World AIDS Day on the web this morning as I surfed randomly.
While in the shower, pondering this strange absence, I reached a hypothesis: the general public can only handle one major global issue at a time. In the early nineties, it was AIDS, which then resurfaced a few years ago when the rest of the world found out that Africa has a major AIDS epidemic and almost no means to fight it, in part because so much of the leadership in African countries is standing around with its collective head in the sand. Breast cancer also had its heyday several years ago, and it gets a boost every November (which is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month), but that movement has become so bogged down in commercialism and for-profit entities out to make a buck from people's good intentions and/or desire to appear socially conscious that it's lost much of its credibility. (This is not to undermine the legitimate nonprofit groups that are still genuinely trying to raise awareness - I just think they have an even harder time because of the illegitimate ones.)
At the moment, the buzz word of the day is green. Which is great, and it's about damn time. The last time I remember hearing so much talk about the environment, I was about ten years old and drawing pictures of an anthropomorphized earth crying and looking forlorn. And it seems like the phrase "alternative fuel source" isn't met with such scorn from the general public anymore; people are actually starting to embrace it. But the cynical part of me (which at times threatens to squash the idealistic part of me like a bug) is becoming increasingly convinced that most people don't really give a shit about whether their grandchildren will be able to breathe the air. They just want to be "trendy," which is what the green movement is becoming, just like everything else. Hybrid cars are a wonderful thing, and it's about time we had a stopgap between gas guzzlers and fuel cells, which are still a long way off. However, there is some truth in the South Park episode which featured a "smug" cloud poisoning the air around South Park once its residents all bought hybrids because they were a status symbol.
I wish people would go along with environmentally and socially conscious movements because they fracking make sense, rather than because it's considered "in." But, to borrow from a verse in Philippians, what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, the word gets out. And because of this, I rejoice. I just wish that all issues got air time, all the time.
