Stickman Readers' Submissions December 2nd, 2005

Fear

This is the commodity sold on an almost continuous basis in the West. And it sells more easily and better than anything else. The media love it. FEAR. Newsworthy. Gets ratings. And most of all a stupid public buy it.

What are some examples of sold FEAR then? Here are some. There are many more.

He Clinic Bangkok

After September 11th, FEAR had a huge impact on the travel industry. Everyone was too scared to fly. Of course the simple fact that September 11 was highly unlikely to ever happen again, and that statistically you are much more likely to die on the road
travelling to the airport, did not matter. FEAR was sold. The stupid public bought it, and stopped flying.

After the bombing in Bali, Australians stopped holidaying there, in spite of incredibly cheap package holidays. Again FEAR sold, in spite of statistical evidence showing that to be scared of a bomb in Bali made less sense than to be scared of the way
your taxi driver was driving.

Currently the media is doing a great job (in the west) of selling bird flue FEAR. Currently about 20 people have died of this flue in Asia, and many are now too scared to travel here. Of course the fact that more people than this die every day for other
causes doesn't matter, because irrational fear is so easily sold.

CBD bangkok

And anyone unfortunate enough to have 'run across' Christians (or most religions for that matter) would be able to recite a long list of things, that if you do them, will cause you to forever go to hell in punishment of your sins.

Need I go on? There are just so many daily cases they are too numerous to list. In fact virtually from the age of being able to understand anything, we are sold FEAR.

And what of FEAR about sex?

Well almost all males will remember from when they were 13 about worrying whether they would go blind from masturbating. I even remember one friend who was in FEAR of the fact that you only have 'a bucket full' for your entire life, after which
it is 'all over'!

wonderland clinic

And of course if you ask the 'average' person in the West about having sex with a Thai prostitute (whether or not with a condom) you can be almost certain to be told that you will DEFINITELY catch something. Most likely of course is HIV, after
which you will die a slow and miserable death for your sins.

I have a good friend who is retired in Thailand.. and people back home worry that he could be a playboy in Thailand. His standard response? Would I be so silly as to endanger my health by being a playboy in Thailand? Of course NOT! And everyone back home
believes this story!

If only it were possible to know what the real risks are when it comes to STD's and Sex. I don't think the real risks are known, because so many of the facts are mixed up with the sale of FEAR.

But consider.

Stickman Comment: 87% of men enjoying the nightlife have, at some stage, had unprotected sex. A very small sample of HIV tests on prostitutes at Nana show 10% POSITIVE.

And how many THOUSAND men pass through Thailand each and every year? THOUSANDS. Or is it MILLIONS. And so we are told, most dabble in the nightlife.

If you look at the above statistics, and believed that STDs were easily caught, most of the population would be dying of Aids right now. Only on a recent Stickman submission, the fear is so well sold, that you worry that you will get Herpes (or another
'nasty') by kissing a Thai girl !!! What bullshit! I am more likely to die of a heart attack tomorrow than to contract Herpes by kissing a girl down at Nana Plaza.

I cannot prove it of course, but this is my conclusion.

AIDS and all the other STDs of course do exist. So does cancer and many other nasty diseases too. But the chances of catching any of these things, even having unprotected sex with Thai prostitutes is VERY VERY low. This I believe is the reality. Anyone
telling otherwise is, as usual, selling FEAR.

I reckon if I did 2 things every day…….First is having unprotected sex with a different Thai girl everyday for an hour. Second is driving around the outskirts of Bangkok everyday for an hour. Bet you anything I will die in a motorcar accident before
I catch HIV.

Stickman's thoughts:

But you don't have unprotected sex with prostitutes willy nilly, do you?!


nana plaza