Tim Miller, AIDS and the Definition of Art

In his commentary “A Day Without Art” (Dec. 1), Christopher Knight says: “A wise person once said that when a loved one dies, it’s a tragedy; when a stranger dies, it’s a statistic.”

Surely you are educated enough to know that the famous quote being paraphrased is universally attributed to that well-known progressive Josef Stalin.

Invoking Stalin’s memory in a favorable way is entirely appropriate to Knight’s little communal fantasy. Although he does not mention them by name, many of the groups involved in a “A Day Without Art” are extremist cultural terrorists who are deeply contemptuous of mainstream society.

These fanatics dress up masochism, envy and sexual-personal confusion in a costume of tolerance, reason and justice. ACT UP routinely portrays itself in terms that suggest a utopian ideal. Just like Stalin.

Why doesn’t The Times get someone who can address the real issues here? Why is AIDS still being dealt with as first and foremost a civil rights issue rather than a health issue? Why is there no mandatory testing, no tracking of carriers, nor most of the other steps, backed by legislation, that would unquestionably prevent additional people from becoming infected?

If AIDS is so serious, why are the victims continually being paraded about as pawns to gain sympathy and power for unrelated political goals?

BRIAN REICHENBACH

Santa Monica

Contrary to the common colloquialism Knight cited, the actual quote attributed to Stalin reads: “A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic.”