Several social media sites have similar images, as the one above. What's up with the hashtag: #NoIceBucketChallenge?
My wife accepted the #ALS ice bucket challenge, and "called out" a few of her friends. I've been called out a few times, and though you are supposed to do the challenge in 24 hours, I'm sure I will, but I have twist I want to add.
BTW, I don't feel any responsibility to defend or critique the ALS challenge, but I find it interesting that people are upset about it (what do you think is the reason behind the naysaying?). I think people dislike the ALS challenge because THEY THINK it's too easy or a bandwagon thing and it's a distraction from some of the other world problems we have going on, like the recent riots in Ferguson MO, Putin's activity in the Ukraine, the war in the Gaza strip, or journalists being beheaded.
If my assumptions are accurate, then the people who are upset about the ALS challenge are narrow minded -- in the sense that they forget the world will always have problems and it's hard to focus on them all or highlight them all at once. I like the saying, "Do for one where you can, what you wish you could do for the many." If we only focused on patching up "all or none" then nothing would ever be better...
As for my twist, I think I'll wait till the middle of this winter to do the ice bucket challenge. I think this for two reasons. By this winter I think a lot of people will be on to something else and it will be a good reminder. Secondly, it will remind me of the polar bear plunge.
2 comments:
I actually agree with your picture you posted. People are dying and getting sick drinking dirty water, and we are dumping water on our heads? Please....
The challenge was originally simple: if you are called out, write a check OR get iced. But over time, it turned into both. I think the real question is, why has it taken off so rapidly after the change?
ALS is a terrible disease, and research should be funded to obtain a cure. But its unfortunate that most won't simply write a check.
Dirty water is also a terrible problem. The irony is, its a problem that actually has very simple solutions. But nonprofits have to beg for funding to build wells, provide filtration, and education.
Anyway, my thoughts.... Maybe I'll blog about this....
Thx for the feedback Judah. I'd be interested in reading your thoughts when you do blog on this.
I think most diseases get the funding they do get, when the disease is impacting large-scale numbers. I'll give you an example, Klay was diagnosed with Rheumatic chorea, it's so rare, most doctors don't usually ever see a patient with it. Since the 1940's, penicillin cures the root of the disease, which is the strep virus. Undetected, stept turns into rheumatic fever, which most everyone has heard of, and once in a great while it turns into what Klay had. Long story short, there's practically no research being done at all for what Klay went through. It's so rare and so random, it's not on anyone's radar, except families like ours.
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