matt: there are a variety of conspiracy theories about that one. One is that HIV was created by the government intentionally. Another is that it was created in labs and spread accidentally. A third holds that while AIDS is a real thing, it is caused by a variety of things, but not by the HIV virus. Therefore, the anti-Aids treatments being used are not only useless, but harmfull, sometimes themselves causing Aids one was initiated by Berkely professor Daniel DUsburg, and did real harm, since it was picked up by Act-Up SF in the nineties, and then by the president of South Africa. Yikes!
Crumb came of age during the Vietnam era. It’s a wonder he’d believe *anything* the government tells him. I think the necessary distinction to make is between questioning everything and *believing* anything. To engage in the former is a mark of intelligence. To engage in the latter is a mark of naïveté. Yet, far too many Americans conflate the two.
Because he's never made any bones about being largely insane--with a gift for drawing--this should come as no surprise. It's even somewhat "Well, duh!" Similarly, if he told me he thought the moon was made of green cheese it wouldn't alter my opinion of 'ol Bob one iota.
This demonstrates that cartoonists are just good at cartooning. We should not give too much credence to their opinions on social and political matters. The same is true of the hosts of reality shows.
