Party Political

I saw a headline on Yahoo about how Mike Huckabee wanted to sequester all AIDS patients somewhere. I didn't read the story, because I got the impression the vibe of the article would be, "What an evil man. A new Hitler."

I have in the past contemplated ways to end the AIDS epidemic, and separating the infected from the uninfected has come up in my mind as well. Of course, in a country like ours, where you fight for the little guy and personal freedoms, neo-concentration camps seem ludicrous. But if we can't cure the disease with medicine or biotech, and it is threatening our way of life, doesn't it make sense to limit the potential for spreading as much as possible?

I'm not advocating eliminating all the patients. I'm wondering if there is any scenario they would find acceptable in which they are physically separated from those they care about who are not infected, but still allowed to lead fruitful lives. If there were a luxury resort with broadband net access, video chats galore, plenty of phone lines, digital cable, pool, tennis, incredible food, everything you could want, and you could talk to people you care about over the net or phone, and the only catch was you couldn't leave because you might infect someone, would that still be beyond reason?

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