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Dangerous To Your Health Lyrics by David Gilbert

AIDS Conspiracy? Tracking Down the Real Genocide

1996

It is this dangerous diversion from focusing on the preventive measures so urgently needed to save lives that makes the rash of conspiracy theories so disturbing. That's the concern that compelled the writing of this paper. I've been doing AIDS education in prison for over nine years; these conspiracy myths have proven to be the main internal obstacle – in terms of prisoners' consciousness – to concentrating on thorough and detailed work on risk reduction. What's the use, believers ask, of making all the hard choices to avoid spreading or contracting the disease if the government is going to find a way to infect people anyway? And what's the point of all the hassles of safer sex, or all the inconvenience of not sharing needles, if HIV can be spread, as many conspiracy theorists claim, by casual contact such as sneezing or handling dishes?
The core of the mind-set that undermines prevention efforts is "denial." People whose activities have put them at risk are often so petrified that they don't even want to think about it. Conspiracy theories serve up a hip and seemingly militant rationale for not confronting one's own risk practices. At the same time, such theories provide an apparently simple and satisfying alternative to the complex challenge of dealing with the myriad of social, behavioral, and medical factors that propel the epidemic.
In addition to my extensive personal experience, a recent study out of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that New Afrikans who believed in the conspiracy theories are significantly less likely to use condoms or to get tested for HIV. 10 To put it bluntly: The false conspiracy theories are themselves a contributing factor to the terrible toll of unnecessary AIDS deaths among people of color.
While convinced by scientists I know that humans did not design HIV, my main concern here is not to disprove the conspiracy theories. Neither do i attempt to solve the problem of the origins of AIDS or even review the many different theories and approaches to that question. The origin of this disease, as of many others, is likely to remain unsolved for years to come. Various theories of AIDS origins include: a virus that jumped species, an accidental byproduct of biological warfare experiments on animals, a new viral mutation, and a virus that lived in an isolated ecological niche until new social conditions facilitated the explosion of an epidemic. There is also a set of theories based on the now highly dubious proposition that HIV is not the cause of AIDS. (For excellent discussions of HIV's likely history and the social factors that facilitated the explosion of the epidemic, see Gabriel Rotello, "The Birth of AIDS," OUT, April, 1994, and Laurie Garrett, The Coming Plague, pp. 281-390.)
Instead this article examines the validity of one set of theories being widely propagated to prisoners and to New Afrikan communities: that HIV was deliberately spliced together in the lab as a weapon of genocide. These theories have had important public health and political implications. My urgent, life and death purpose is to refocus attention on AIDS prevention and care and, more broadly, on the struggle against the racist and profit-driven character of a public health system that is causing tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths.
Readers not interested in a detailed critique of the conspiracy theories are invited to skip right to the last three sections of this essay, starting with "The Real Genocide." Hopefully, that is also where all readers will concentrate their attention.
Credits
David Gilbert

David Gilbert

About “Dangerous To Your Health” by David Gilbert

Read the complete lyrics to "Dangerous To Your Health" by David Gilbert from the album "AIDS Conspiracy? Tracking Down the Real Genocide" in 1996. On Lyrks you can follow along with the full text, explore the artist's discography, and discover related songs. The track is often categorized under Non-Music, News .

"Dangerous To Your Health" is performed by David Gilbert. from the album "AIDS Conspiracy? Tracking Down the Real Genocide" in 1996 This page provides the full lyric text for fans who want to sing along, study the songwriting, or compare versions across releases. Lyrks organizes lyrics by artist and song slug so you can bookmark and share a stable URL. Music lyrics help listeners connect with emotion, narrative, and rhythm in a track. Whether you are learning English, researching a favorite chorus, or preparing for karaoke, having accurate line breaks and section labels (verse, chorus, bridge) makes the experience easier. We link to the official artist profile on Lyrks where available, including biography snippets, top songs, and chart placements when we have that data. If you enjoy "Dangerous To Your Health", explore more songs by David Gilbert using the links below. Chart and trending pages on Lyrks highlight what listeners are searching for this week. For copyright or correction requests, see our DMCA and contact pages.

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"Dangerous To Your Health" is credited to David Gilbert. Songwriting credits may include additional writers listed on the release; check the credits section on this page for linked collaborators.

"Dangerous To Your Health" appears on "AIDS Conspiracy? Tracking Down the Real Genocide" in 1996.

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